LanternDie
The first digital solution to New York's Lantern Fly problem
Inspiration
Heard of the invasive Lantern Fly before? Are you a veteran stomper already? Download LanternDie to track your kills, move up on leaderboards, and also… I guess… learn about local ecosystems.
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The Spotted Lantern Fly (Lycorma delicatula) species has profoundly affected ecosystems in mid and southern-latitude regions such as the United States, Canada, Korea, and China. An estimated 12% of vegetation has been outstripped due to the presence of the Lantern Fly in New York alone. To combat this issue, the US Department of Agriculture has gone as far as to call for public intervention via “squash and kill” tactics.
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Inspired by these recents events, the creators of this project came up with LanternDie, an interactive platform which promotes and stops the spread of the invasive Spotted Lantern Fly. In a convenient hand-held format, the app Lantern Die! provides users with an educational and entertaining approach for curbing the spread of invasive species and insect pests in general.
Our Solution
LanternDie is an app which engages user(s) to get involved in sto(m)pping! the spread of Lantern Flies using a multifaceted approach. The app first presents a (1) Photo Upload Registry, (2) LantGallery, (3) LantChat and (4) LantBoard (leaderboard) which encourages the user to take action in their community – stomping, swatting, and squashing the pesky insects. By engaging in friendly competition to see who can accumulate the greatest number of insect kills, users can take an active role in helping the local ecosystem. Moreover, we incorporate an educational feature, (5) LantLearn, which informs user(s) of the impact of invasive species and disrupted ecology in their local communities (e.g. New York, New Jersey). We’ve designed a dynamic user interface which motivates and inspires individuals to become stewards of their local environment, stomping and swatting the insects and promoting a more balanced ecology in the process.
How We Built It
The building blocks of this project are Java, Velo by Wix, Twilio, Figma, and Domain.com.
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Before building the app, we had to conduct research on Lantern Flies in scientific literature. This informed our LantLearn page mock-up and inspired the upload feature, since the government is looking for individuals to report sightings. Once we had a strong idea of the features we wanted, we developed the front end of LanternDie with the app interface design tool, Figma. This wireframe/mock-up shows our thinking behind the several features of LanternDie, including sign-up, photo upload, photo gallery, profile, dashboard and chat pages. Our team carefully crafted the colors, fonts and layout to keep our users engaged.
Additionally, instead of coding a full back-end for the app, we showed our problem solving and computational thinking by creating a Java object-based simulation. We created a User class, a UserComparator, a user dataset .csc file and a Main class to test out these methods with the dataset. This can be seen and run through Repl.it. The User class stores all users in a linear database (ArrayList) that is sorted in order of most to least kills. This is the leaderboard that would be shown to users to motivate users.
Finally, we created a simple and concise website that explains our project idea to potential users, mentors and perhaps even in the future, investors. To do this, we employed Wix’s website builder, Velo. We were also able to get a hold of the domain lanterndie.tech. Because Wix requires a premium subscription plan in order to connect a personal domain, we are holding off on doing so.
LanternDie & DivHacks 2022
Our app, Lantern Die Responds to the “Flora and Fauna” track of DivHacks. We have addressed the issue of biodiversity and environmental sustainability in the context of the invasive Spotted Lantern Fly. LanternDie Integrates several key features to motivate, educate, and engage users to become stewards of their local community; helping to restore a more balanced ecology in the process.
Our Challenges & Learning
With none of our team members experienced in web development, we initially struggled to link our ideation with an actionable development plan. In response, we combined multiple platforms, including app development, Java, and Velo, to maximize the capabilities of our design. Combining various team members' diverse skills in programming, research communication, and UI/UX design, we filled the gaps in our knowledge with the help of plenty of quick learning – not all of which was straightforward.
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DivHacks has been an insightful experience which taught us not only new technical skills (e.g. Twilio, Velo), but also overarching themes of sustainability and environmental conservation. We also picked up invaluable skills in collaboration and teamwork. Learning how to ideate, pitch, and design the app as a group are three such examples of skills acquired. On a more technical side, we learnt: Velo by Wix, prototyping through Figma, and domain purchases online. Finally, we learned how to have fun, be imaginative, and make a difference in the world using CS and tech. We leave DivHacks feeling inspired and motivated to attend future hacking events and apply ourselves towards real-world problems like the Lantern Fly invasion!
What's Next For LanternDie
During the short time frame of this hackathon, we were only able to create a mockup of the front and back end of the app. If we were to continue this project and take it forward, we would have to create a front and back end and develop a mobile app. Regardless, in terms of scalability, the lanternfly crisis is only the beginning. Future possibilities are endless for LanternDie. On the marketing side, we have plans to integrate a LanternDie time everyday. To aid existing government databases in precisely tracking and locating the spread of lanternflies, we want to integrate a geospatial tagging feature in the photo registry. We would also like to adapt the app towards other invasive species like the Gypsy moth. We want to expand the geographic context of the app and extend its use in other countries. Canada, Korea, and China, for example, are confronted with Gypsy moth, Lantern Fly, and long-horned beetle threats.