EduTube

• 

Inspiration

We realized that students (ourselves included) spend hours rewatching lecture videos and cramming before exams, but often struggle to retain key information. We wanted to build something that turns passive lecture watching into active, engaging studying.

What it does

EduTube Notes transforms lecture videos into an interactive study companion. Students can:

Upload lecture videos

Ask natural questions and jump directly to the right timestamp

Get structured notes generated automatically

Practice with auto-generated quizzes and flashcards

The goal: better retention, less cramming, and more efficient learning.

How we built it

Frontend: React + Vite + Tailwind for a fast, responsive UI

Backend: Fastify (Node.js/TypeScript) to handle uploads and routes

Storage: Google Cloud Storage for lecture videos

AI Services: TwelveLabs for video embeddings & semantic search, Gemini for summarization, notes, and quiz generation

Architecture: Modular design so each component (frontend, API, AI services) is cleanly separated and scalable

Challenges we ran into

Getting CORS policies correct between frontend, backend, and cloud services

Managing long processing times for large lecture uploads

Integrating TwelveLabs embeddings with Gemini outputs in a smooth pipeline

Debugging the end-to-end flow under hackathon time pressure

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Built a full end-to-end pipeline in under 36 hours: from video upload to AI-generated notes and quizzes

Successfully combined multiple AI services (TwelveLabs + Gemini) into one seamless experience

Designed a clean, scalable architecture that could be extended beyond hackathon demo scale

Saw the first demo outputs: timestamped answers, concise notes, and quizzes that worked live

What we learned

How to integrate multimodal AI (video + text) into a single application

The importance of embedding-based retrieval for accurate search

How to debug API pipelines and manage developer experience in a monorepo

That clear separation between frontend, backend, and services makes iteration much easier

What's next for EduTube

Support for live-streamed lectures with real-time note-taking and Q&A

Interactive flashcards and quizzes during playback for reinforcement learning

Multi-language support so non-native speakers can benefit

Integration with learning management systems (LMS) to fit directly into classrooms

Built With

• firestore
• gcp
• javascript
• node.js
• react
• typescript