FoodRex

Inspiration

We were inspired by the complexity and variety of cuisines in the modern world. Through the development of various technologies, people can connect and share cultures more easily than ever. However, with so many dishes having similar ingredients and flavors, it becomes difficult to distinguish between cuisines. This has resulted in many people sticking with foods that they are familiar and comfortable with instead of exploring the vast world of food. We wanted to create an app that allows people to learn about foods similar to what they already like so that they can try different foods while eating things that they will most likely enjoy.

What it does

FoodRex takes a photo, uploaded by the user, and uses machine learning to predict and recommend various dishes that are similar to the dish they uploaded.

How we built it

Our UI/UX designer created wireframes and prototypes with Figma. In addition, illustrations were created using Procreate on the iPad. Our developers used the following technology to build the web app:

Front-end:

• Next.Js
• React.Js
• Tensorflow.js
• React-Item-Carousel
• Google's food_V1 Food Classifer Model

Back-end:

• Node-Fetch
• unsplash.Js

Tensorflow.js takes in an image and with the food_V1 classifier model suggests some dishes. Then with unsplash.Js the site takes the set of predictions and finds corresponding images for it.

Challenges we ran into

A challenge we ran into was ensuring that the machine learning outputs accurate dishes similar to the uploaded image. Working with Tensorflow in a short amount of time proved to be difficult, but we were able to overcome this obstacle and deploy a working web app.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

For some of our teammates, this is the first Hackathon they are attending. Despite this, we were able to fully design, code, and deploy a working product.

What we learned

During this hackathon, we learned how to really manage our time effectively and take on feasible tasks. We originally were very ambitious with ideas for creating a product, that would be too complex for us to complete within a short time span.

What's next for FoodRex

FoodRex has great potential for growth. Currently, users are presented with various food recommendations, but in the future, FoodRex could connect users with restaurants or recipes for the respective dishes. Thus, presenting connections with various restaurants and food businesses.

Built With

• next.js
• node-fetch
• react-item-carousel
• react.js
• tensorflow.js
• unsplash.js