Nature Explorer

Are you looking for an app to show you around the world and educate you about the many plants that reside there? You should use Nature Explorer.

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Inspiration

When we first got the theme, "Life on Land, Life Below Water", we were confused and met with an unprecedented theme. But we decided to put our heads together, and find an idea. But then it hit us!

What it does

Our app, Nature Explorer, people can share nature experiences and learn from each other. The user can identify what type of plant the picture is, educating themselves even more. Our app emulates a social media, in the way that users can interact with each other on a live feed, viewing their posts, and seeing their plants.

How we built it

We used React JS for the front end, which emulated a social media-like feed, and allowed users to make posts. Firebase and the Plant.id API were used as the backend; storage, database, authentication, and plant recognition. Tailwind CSS was also used for styling purposes and to enhance the UI even more. Plant.id API was integrated to allow the user to be able to identify what type of plant the picture is, and educate themselves even more.

Challenges we ran into

It took a while to implement Firebase features into our app, but in the end it was worth it, as they were integrated into the web app with full functionality. Finding a plant recognition API was a very tedious process, but we found one with Plant.id API, which in itself led to a batch of problems. The API would not integrate properly with React.js, which backtracked us and led to about 2 hours of research on how to fix it. Additionally, the UI took a while to perfect to our best ability.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're very proud of creating a social media-like app, which neither of us have accomplished before. Our UI, using TailwindCSS, was much better-than-expected. Also, in the end, all of our Firebase features and the Plant.id API functioned properly, and it was worth it to persevere through those trials. Integrating many APIs into a React app is a hard, complicated, and complex process, but we both put our heads together, and made it work.

What we learned

We learned that great things take time, and patience is key. We were so close to giving up on the Plant.id API, but we persevered, and we found a solution, about taking up 2 hours of our time. We also learned how to integrate Firebase features into our App, which was a very hard, but rewarding process.

What's next for Nature Explorer

We plan to use the Plant.id API to recognize insects as well, which makes the user experience all the more enhancing and engaging. Tailwind CSS will also be used to enhance the UI even more, assuring the smoothest user experience possible. We also plan to deploy our app, to make it accessible to anyone, anywhere.

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