Inspiration
Given recent protests ranging from the #BlackLivesMatter movement in 2020 and the #FreePalestine movement in 2024, there have been an insurgence in police brutality encounters. A study from the Academy of Health in 2021 reported "for racialized minorities -- negative experiences in institutional settings likely reinforce the notions that institutions in general are not intended for them and cannot be trusted, and that they need to be hypervigilant or ‘on guard’ in these surroundings." It is disheartening that victims of such encounters feel distrustful of institutions in place (such as psychology clinics, or a therapist office). As such, we embarked on creating the first live, face to face AI Avatar to act as a safe space for not only police brutality victims, but for anyone who feels that they lack the accessibility or trust to freely and candidly share their experiences and emotions. Our AI Avatar hopes to bridge the gap between mental health and the political and economic state of the world.
What it does
TalkitOut allows users to select from a range of AI Avatars best suited for their concerns all the while creating an empathetic environment with face-to-face connections.
How we built it
We used Hume for STT, AI prompt, and TTS. Further we used the Talking Avatars GitHub Repository to make our Virtual Avatars
Challenges we ran into
The first challenge we ran into was that virtual avatars take a long rendering time and we want our project to be in real time. Secondly, getting Hume API to work was a challenge, and finally, the github repo we're using for virtual Avatars has bugs.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We're proud of working together as a team and filling gaps in expertise as needed, when I wasn't proficient with express API, Dhanush who had some experience was there to help me out. Alas, we are most proud of our ability to delegate and efficiently complete tasks.
What we learned
We learned how to use Hume API, and better prompt generation, and how models & API can be used for customized requirements
What's next for Talk It Out
-> We want to have more realistic AI avatars with quicker rendering speed -> We are planning to implement features specifically designed to help treat people with social media cravings and addiction. ->We plan to integrate with Apple AI and Whatsapp to ensure convenience and privacy for our users.
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