TerraForm - Build a sustainable future

Every day, people want to be more sustainable but don't know where to start or how to stay motivated. TerraForm is our solution to help save the world.

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Inspiration

Our inspiration for creating the app came from a simple observation: despite widespread awareness of environmental issues, it's often difficult for individuals to translate that knowledge into consistent action. The scale of climate change can feel overwhelming, leading to a sense of powerlessness. We wanted to build something that could break down this massive problem into small, manageable, and even enjoyable steps.

The idea of a gamified experience seemed like a natural fit. By applying principles from popular video games—like scoring, leveling up, and earning rewards—we could create a positive feedback loop that makes sustainable choices feel like a fun challenge rather than a daunting chore. The integration of an AI chat assistant was inspired by the need for personalised guidance. Instead of generic tips, the AI could offer tailored advice, making the journey feel more personal and engaging. We wanted to create a tool that not only educates but also empowers and celebrates every step of the user's progress.

What it does

The EcoFactory app is a gamified platform for personal sustainability. It transforms the abstract concept of environmental impact into a concrete, engaging, and rewarding experience. At its core, the app serves as a digital sustainability advisor and a virtual factory that a user can improve through their real-world actions.

The application's main functions are to:

  1. Track and Gamify Sustainable Actions: It assigns a sustainability score that increases as users complete eco-friendly tasks. Users can tackle daily challenges, such as "use public transportation," and earn points that contribute to their overall progress.

  2. Provide Interactive Mini-Games: The app includes games designed to educate and entertain. The Recycling Game teaches proper waste sorting, and the Carbon Footprint Game quantifies personal impact. The points earned in these games are directly converted into the user's sustainability score.

  3. Offer Personalised AI Guidance:While the prototype does not support this functionality, the idea is to have a built-in AI chat assistant that acts as a personal sustainability coach. Users can ask questions and receive tailored advice on how to make greener choices in their daily lives.

  4. Visualise Progress: The Insights Graph provides a clear, visual representation of the user's environmental impact over time, tracking metrics like CO₂ reduction and recycling rate. This makes the long-term effects of their actions tangible and motivating.

  5. Foster Community and Competition: The app prototype features a leaderboard for friendly competition and a team challenges section where users can collaborate on larger community goals. This is also designed to provide access to interest-based communities for sharing tips and ideas. The current prototype does not fully support this functionality.

  6. Drive Behavioral Change: The central Factory Game uses a unique mechanic to reinforce sustainable thinking. Users spend points earned from their actions to make choices for their virtual factory, such as choosing recyclable packaging. Each sustainable decision visually improves the 'factory's' aka the app's appearance, subtly training the user to make eco-conscious choices by linking them to immediate, positive outcomes.

How we built it

  1. Coding and publishing platform - v0 by Vercel
  2. Programming languages - CSS and TypeScript
  3. Some sections of code were AI-generated.

Challenges we ran into

AI Integration: While the provided code includes a placeholder for a chat API, a key challenge would be the actual implementation of a real-time AI advisor. Gamification: During the design process, making decisions on the visual and functional elements of the app required careful consideration. Much thought was put into how the multiple features would interact.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

App Interface: We are happy with the visual aspects of our app. We added personal touches that represent our personalities and interests. Functionality: As we have little experience with app/web development, we are satisfied with the final product and all its different features. General Idea: Our idea started small, with just the factory section in mind, but as we progressed, we added more features to make a fully fledged project.

What we learned

  1. CSS and TypeScript
  2. The importance of testing in the development process
  3. Collaborative programming

What's next for TerraForm - Build a sustainable future

  1. Integrate the AI chat functionality
  2. Test with multiple users
  3. Improve some elements of the current code.
  4. Expand on our design and add other features that are currently not included due to time constraints

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