Inspiration
After learning about the realm of food politics and discovering the influence that fast food companies have public health, I struggled a lot ethically about the power I have as a consumer. I believe there is a large tie between fast food consumption and health conditions, but these days it's almost impossible to avoid fast food altogether. I was intrigued by the humanitarian aspect of CareFirst by putting communities without support or resources in healthcare at the forefront. These same communities often fall victim to health conditions associated with poor dietary intake. Tracking patient data by diet has been difficult, as almost all existing solutions rely on the user to manually input their meals and calorie intake into an app. I was inspired to create a fast food tracker for the CareFirst Insurance company so that the many complications associated with high levels of fast food intake could be lessened or cared for by the use of smart wearable sensor technology. I also wanted to incorporate a type of cigarette smoke sensor as this issue still prevails in the US.
What it does
The app and wearable bracelet system are not currently developed. However, ideally, the app would have 4 main functions: checking air quality for cigarette /e-cigarette smoke and pollutants, creating a fast food eating log, creating a record where patient pre existing conditions could be stored, and allowing easy access to talk to a care provider/physician. The bracelet would contain a CO sensor, motion sensor, and sensor to detect γ-Tocopherol or Acrylamide, which are found in foods that have been fried. The CO sensor and motion sensor would help determine if a cigarette or found is being consumed. If the bracelet was to sense any of these abnormalities a notification would be sent to an app of the user's phone. This information would then be stored within the app and usable by the insurance company under the user's consent to predict any future health problems.
How we built it
The app would ideally be built using Android Studio and later turned into a iOS app as well. The Google firewall services as well as available Google Cloud API would also be very useful in the creation of this app.
Challenges we ran into
Working solo on this project severely limited the deliverable aspect of this project. Given my engineering background, I am not familiar with app design or coding interfaces. The time frame also did not allow for the development of any type of prototype for the wearable bracelet or cost breakdown.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
This is the first hackathon I have entered by myself, and I am very proud that I accomplished so much on my own. It was definitely a change not working on a team, but I learned what it is like to only rely on myself for all aspects of the design and presentation. I learned to trust my decisions and seek advice when I felt unsure, as I did not have any teammates to bounce ideas off of.
What we learned
I learned that there are benefits and drawbacks to working with a team. I learned a lot about my capabilities in a short time span and just how far I could push myself. I also was very content to learn more about the food industry and how heath insurance plays a role in the system.
What's next for RefRAIN
I hope to develop this system further. I want to become more familiar with Google Cloud or Android Studio in aims to make this into an actual app. I also would be excited to create a prototype for the bracelet sensor system. This project stayed as a mere idea in this competition, but I believe with time and the right resources it could become something very useful.
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