# "In English Please!" Project Overview

![alt](https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/dev-circle-1b2a0.appspot.com/o/uploads%2Fr5QyAQfyaOhdxIU8lbs8zYjJAFw2%2F1717614220629.jpeg?alt=media&token=da1810ee-df3b-46da-88b1-a823abb5b9cf)

## Inspiration 🤔
Our group noticed that we struggle with knowing what we really consume during our daily lives. This made us realize that many of the ingredients in common foods are unknown to the average person, and additionally, much effort is required to search and understand every aspect of what we ingest. Stemming from this gap in knowledge, we created "In English Please!".

## What it does 📙
"In English Please!" is quite self-explanatory; it translates complicated ingredients into English that anyone can understand. Simply take a photo of the ingredients list of any product, upload it to our website, and we will seamlessly provide a "translation" to the user. For example, complicated ingredients such as sucralose and neotame would be "translated" to "artificial sweetener". You can then hover over the original ingredients (which will now be bolded) to view the translation. Additionally, you can set "flags" to highlight ingredients of your choosing. Finally, understand what you're consuming, and let "In English Please!" lead you to a healthier lifestyle!

## How we built it 🚧
The backend was built using Node.js, Express, Google Cloud Storage buckets, and the Google Vision AI API. The frontend was built in React.

## Challenges we ran into 🤯
Our group had a lot of trouble coming up with an idea. We wanted to create something unique and memorable, however, we had many different ideas and this led to frequent differences in vision. Other than preliminary planning issues, we had difficulty integrating the front and back end of our web application.

## Accomplishments that we're proud of 🥹
Creating a fully fledged web application that serves its intended purpose, without too many compromises and despite many setbacks. We're also working (mostly) working together for the first time and we have a first-time hacker, so we're proud that we were able to get to know each other and put together something cool this weekend.

## What we learned 🥹
We (collectively) learned about the intricacies of web deployment and integrating the front and back ends of the web application. Additionally, we became more familiar with the Google Cloud suite, specifically by utilizing Google Cloud Storage and the Google Vision AI API.

## What's next for "In English Please!" ⏭️
- Find/create a larger database for more ingredients
- Fine-tuning our "translations" to be more user-friendly
- Mobile compatibility (camera feature)
- Integrating an NLP to more reliably detect and translate ingredients

## Links!
- [Github](https://github.com/in-english-please)
- [Demo](https://in-english-please.github.io/frontend/)
- [Figma 1](https://www.figma.com/file/HJ1p71epfmCv8WA5R6ozr3/hack-western-team-library?type=design&node-id=0%3A1&mode=design&t=qx5qz6RQFlAjAEsP-1)
- [Figma 2](https://www.figma.com/file/H3SR4gXwf6YaXvQcBZGQq6/Untitled?type=design&node-id=0%3A1&mode=design&t=Q2PcYyRckppuXykY-1)

## Built With
- express.js
- google-cloud
- node.js
- react
- typescript

[Check out our project on Devpost!](https://devpost.com/software/in-english-please)


For students, by students.

Documentation

This is my first post! Introducing In English Please!

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