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Michael Lizzio

Symposium Notes

Symposium Notes showing a recorded conversation transcribed on the right and summarized into bullet-point notes on the left

Inspiration

I've wanted to create this project since before coming to RIT. Back in high school, I would’ve loved to have a tool like this, especially for English and social studies, where lectures were a big part of learning. I always struggled with juggling note-taking and actively listening, often missing key points because I was too busy writing.

Originally, I planned to use Glean, a software with similar functionality. However, I discovered that it doesn’t allow data exports. Even after emailing their support team back in October, I never received a response. So, I figured, why not build it myself?

What It Does

  • Empty Symposium Notes workspace with note and transcription panes, recording controls, settings, and the Bricky assistant
  • Bricky, the app's orange brick mascot, winking and giving a thumbs-up

Live Audio Recording & Segmentation

  • Users can start and stop recording at any time.
  • The system automatically detects speech and segments recordings based on pauses.
  • Each segment is stored for better organization and transcription.

AI Transcription & Summarization

  • Converts recorded audio into text using OpenAI’s Whisper API.
  • Generates AI-powered summaries in bullet points.
  • Users can customize how many bullet points they want.

Notes & Transcript Management

  • Locally stored notes that can be edited, exported, or cleared anytime.
  • Separate views for transcripts and notes for a better experience.
  • Users can delete individual notes or clear all when needed.

Customizable Settings

  • Users can fine-tune audio processing settings, including calibration time, silence detection, and segment length.
  • OpenAI API key is stored securely in local storage.

AI Chat Assistant

  • A floating chat assistant that answers follow-up questions about notes.
  • Uses transcript context to generate relevant responses.
  • Designed with a modern, sleek chat interface.

Import/Export Functionality

  • Users can import/export notes and transcripts as .txt files.
  • Enables easy backups and sharing of information.

Challenges We Ran Into

  • Limited experience with JavaScript and CSS made certain features tricky.
  • The biggest challenge was dividing tasks efficiently. We had to strategize how to integrate our individual work without stepping on each other’s toes.

Accomplishments We’re Proud Of

  • The system is fully functional, and we were able to complete it in time for the hackathon.
  • We built a working AI-powered tool in such a short time.
  • Working as a team was a fun and rewarding experience.

What We Learned

  • Don’t leave the DevPost submission for the last minute.
  • Collaborating on a team project can be challenging, but it’s also incredibly rewarding.
  • Helping and teaching each other made the experience even more valuable.

What’s Next for Symposium Notes?

  • Hosting on a free-tier platform so users can access it with their own OpenAI API key.
  • Adding folders to organize notes by subject.
  • Uploading PDFs and presentations so AI can follow along and provide more detailed notes.

This is just the beginning, and we’re excited to see how this tool evolves.