SmartReader

smartreader

Inspiration

This project all started from a single moment of frustration for me while reading a book online. I'm reading a complex chapter in a book; and I encounter a paragraph in the book that sparks a question, but the book can't answer back. To find an answer, I needed to break my focus, pick up my phone, and dive into the distracting rabbit hole of web searches. Because of this, the magic of my immersive reading experience is shattered.

I believe that reading shouldn't be a monologue; it should be a dialogue. What if we could imbue every book; from dense academic texts to timeless novels, with a spark of intelligence? What if you could pause and ask, "What does this passage really mean?" or "Remind me, what led this character to this decision?" This desire to transform the solitary act of reading into an interactive conversation with knowledge itself is the heart and soul behind SmartReader.

What it does

SmartReader is an AI-powered e-reading application that turns any book you own into an interactive learning companion. At its core, it does four key things:

Upload & Read: You can upload any book in common formats like PDF or EPUB directly into the app.
Query by Highlighting: As you read, you can simply highlight any text (a confusing sentence, a complex paragraph, an unfamiliar term) and instantly ask our integrated AI to explain it, simplify it, or provide more context.
Ask General Questions: Go beyond the highlighted text. You can open a chat window and ask broader questions based on the entire book, such as "What is the central theme of this story?" or "Summarize the key arguments in Chapter 3."
Instant Summaries: Get the gist of any section or the entire book on command. SmartReader’s AI can provide concise summaries to help you review or preview content, saving you valuable time.

How we built it

This project was a sprint that combined frontend(React) development with a powerful supabase backend and openrouter for AI integration.

Frontend (React, Vite, lucide-react)
Backend (supabase, openrouter)

Challenges we ran into

The major challenge was figuring out how to format the PDF files properly and get everything looking great!.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

I'm really proud I could get the MVP to work, which is cool!

What we learned

I believe AI isn't here to replace reading but to enhance it. I also learned invaluable lessons in prompt engineering.

What's next for SmartReader

The hackathon is just the beginning for SmartReader. The vision is huge, and I plan to:

Expand Format Support: Integrate support for web articles, Word documents, and even audiobooks, allowing you to ask questions while you listen.
Collaboration Features: Introduce functionality for book clubs or study groups, where members can share their AI-generated insights and questions with each other.
Character & Theme Tracker: Develop a feature that can track the development of a character or a theme throughout a book, providing a full analysis on demand.
Multi-language Support: Empower users from all over the world to have a conversation with their books, in their native language.