eco-nation

Inspiration

I wanted to create a way to encourage users to recycle and help the environment that is fun and does not feel like a chore. There are more than 3.3 million tons of plastic waste every year and only 9% is recycled.

What it does

Eco Nation is a mobile app built on the DeSo blockchain. Users sign up using their DeSo social account and scan plastic items using machine learning and computer vision to score points that can be redeemed for cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and other exclusive items. Users can also challenge their DeSo friends to see who can recycle the most to earn even cooler prizes.

How we built it

Eco Nation is built on the DeSo blockchain. It is easier to develop this for iOS devices since android tends to block or disable some of its features. Using Google Cloud, the user's points and history are stored on the Google Cloud Database. Google Cloud also helps as the backbone of the computer vision technology for scanning barcodes. Users sign up with their DeSo account which links their friends and is how users claim their rewards.

Challenges we ran into

I had a hard time developing this app since the DeSo documents are difficult to follow and flow through. I also had some issues linking the DeSo friends with the user's account and challenging them. The Google Cloud storage of the user's progress was giving me problems because some of the features were blocked by my university's network, but I was able to VPN around it and use my hotspot if needed.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I am proud of developing a mobile app on the DeSo blockchain. Web 3 technologies are becoming mainstream and developing an app like this may incentives people to recycle more and keep the planet healthy.

What we learned

I learned how to use the DeSo blockchain technologies and the interworkings of the DeSo accounts and how the users' data is stored on the blockchain rather than on a corporate server.

What's next for Eco Nation

I hope to refine the computer vision aspect of this app and work with a larger team to get better ideas for the design and development of blockchain technologies.