The problem Bubba - An AI-Augmented Reality Companion solves

Problem:
Millions of people around the world suffer from depression, a major mental illness. Many adverse effects can occur, including reduced quality of life, social isolation, and even suicide. Despite the fact that there are many different treatment options, many people who suffer from depression choose not to seek professional help or benefit from conventional treatments. Also, not everyone will always have access to or be able to afford in-person therapy.

Solution:
Our solution aims in developing an AI-augmented reality companion, offering a creative approach to the depression issue. The virtual companion can make use of cutting-edge innovations like AI and AR to offer emotional support and individualised suggestions for coping mechanisms. In order to encourage the user to explore their thoughts and feelings in a secure and non-judgmental setting, it can also offer a listening ear and a supportive presence.

The virtual companion can comprehend the user's emotional state and offer tailored recommendations for coping mechanisms by integrating AI functions. It can provide a variety of functions, such as guided meditations, mood monitoring, and exercises that encourage optimistic thinking.Also, the virtual companion can offer a secure and encouraging environment for users to share their feelings, which is particularly helpful for people who might not have access to in-person treatment.

Users can engage with the virtual companion and access its functions easily, as it is designing with an intuitive user interface. The usage of AR technology can give the user a distinctive and immersive experience, enhancing the interaction and engagement of the virtual companion. It may enhance people's general mental health and well-being by making them feel supported and understood.

Challenges we ran into

Locating the appropriate data sets for the AI models' training, as well as due to the AI model's high GPU power requirements, we encountered several difficulties during the pre-training phase. Due to this, creating a quantized model that can be used on mobile devices from a pre-trained model was challenging.

Additionally, there was a learning process for us because we had never integrated AR into an app before. It took a lot of study and testing to create the AR model and incorporate it into the app. It took some time for us to learn the new skills and methods.

We put a lot of time and effort into testing the software. We had to make sure it was reliable, secure, and error-free. To make sure that the app fulfilled our criteria for functionality and quality, we tested it repeatedly using a variety of techniques and scenarios. Overall, the development process was difficult, but we were able to overcome the difficulties via perseverance, hard effort, and a dedication to producing a high-quality app.