VArch AI

Inspiration

Seniors lose billions to online scams every year. Not because they're careless, but because nobody built anything for them. We wanted to fix that.

What it does

VArch AI is a digital companion for seniors with three features: a Tech Companion that answers tech questions in plain English with voice support, a Scam Awareness Trainer that lets you practice spotting real scam scenarios, and a Jargon Buster that explains confusing tech terms instantly.

How I built it

React 19 + TypeScript on the frontend, Vite for bundling, Tailwind and shadcn/ui for the UI, and Express.js handling the backend. All AI features run through the Gemini API including the scam scenario generation and tech question answering. Motion for animations, Lucide for icons.

Challenges we ran into

Designing for seniors is genuinely hard. Every UI decision had to account for font size, contrast, cognitive load and simplicity without making it feel patronizing. Getting Gemini to generate scam scenarios that felt realistic but were also structured and consistent took a lot of prompt engineering.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

The Scam Awareness Trainer actually works well. Dynamic AI generated scenarios that are educational and varied was harder than it sounds and we're happy with how it turned out.

What I've learned

Accessibility has to be a first principle not an afterthought. Also that the best AI integrations are the ones where the AI completely disappears into the experience.