PostItWall

Project Overview

PostItWall is an interactive application that allows museum visitors to create digital post-it notes that are analyzed and displayed on a visual dashboard. The project consists of a React frontend for user interaction and a Python backend for processing and analyzing the notes.

Prerequisites

• Node.js and npm
• Python 3.8 or higher
• Git
• OpenAI API key
• Cisco VPN client for database access
• Fontys credentials

Installation

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/ConnorEMcclanahan/PhillipsWall.git
cd PhillipsWall

Frontend Setup

cd Frontend
npm install

Backend Setup

pip install Flask
pip install Pyodbc
pip install Portkey_AI

Configuration

OpenAI API Setup

1. Get an OpenAI API key from OpenAI Platform
2. Add your API key to the appropriate configuration file in the backend

Database Connection Setup

1. Install Cisco VPN client from Fontys Student Services website (available in the webhosting section)
2. Connect to VPN using your Fontys credentials
3. The application will now be able to connect to the database using the credentials in database.ini

Required Configuration Files

Make sure you have these files in the Backend/config/ folder before running the application:

• database.ini - Database connection settings
• portkey.ini - API key configuration

Running the Application

Start the Backend

# From the root project directory
python -m Backend.main

Start the Frontend

# From the Frontend directory
npm start

The frontend application will start running on http://localhost:3000

Network Access

Accessing from Other Devices on the Network

To make the application accessible from other devices on your network, you can use Local Tunnel:

Install Local Tunnel

npm install -g localtunnel

Expose Backend

lt --port 5000

This will provide a URL that can be used to access your backend from any device.

Expose Frontend

lt --port 3000

This will provide a URL that can be used to access your frontend from any device.

Project Structure

PhillipsWall/
├── Frontend/          # React application for user interface
├── Backend/           # Python server handling data processing and AI analysis
│   └── config/        # Configuration files
│       ├── database.ini
│       └── portkey.ini
└── README.md

Features

• Multilingual support (English and Dutch)
• Post-it note text recognition
• Sentiment analysis visualization
• Interactive Stats page for museum staff

Troubleshooting

If you encounter any issues:

1. Dependencies: Ensure all dependencies are installed correctly
2. Ports: Check that both frontend and backend are running on the correct ports
3. Network: Verify network connectivity if using Local Tunnel
4. Logs: Check console logs for any error messages
5. VPN: Verify VPN connection is active when accessing the database
6. API Key: Confirm your OpenAI API key is valid and has sufficient credits

Support

For additional support or questions, please refer to the project documentation or contact the development team.