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Aryah Oztanir

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Creating an AI, lifelike interviewer—Clara, Hack Princeton '24

9 months ago

Creating an AI, lifelike interviewer—Clara, Hack Princeton '24 image 1
Creating an AI, lifelike interviewer—Clara, Hack Princeton '24 image 1
Creating an AI, lifelike interviewer—Clara, Hack Princeton '24 image 1
Creating an AI, lifelike interviewer—Clara, Hack Princeton '24 image 1
Creating an AI, lifelike interviewer—Clara, Hack Princeton '24 image 1
Creating an AI, lifelike interviewer—Clara, Hack Princeton '24 image 1

CLARA (https://claraprep.co)

TLDR:

The Problem:

Every year, there are over 16 million US Visa applications from across the world, but 45% of them end up failing. Arriving in the US, whether as an immigrant or a businessperson, is no easy feat, and there are a variety of roadblocks that impede the path towards securing a visa.

First, the immigration process is time-consuming and overwhelming. Immigrants are bombarded with hundreds of forms and papers to fill out, often with little understanding of how to fill the forms out and what they’re agreeing to. A single missed deadline or tiny mistake in any one of these documents could lead to a rejection, sending the immigrant’s application back to the bottom of the pile.

Many turn to lawyers for help, but immigration attorneys are often too expensive, with average costs between $3,000 and $7,000. Pro bono lawyers are limited. Others turn to the internet only to find scattered resources and conflicting advice. In an already stressful new environment, newcomers shouldn’t also have to worry about navigating legal systems—they should be focused on building their new life.

How We Solve This Problem + Our Feature Set:

Frustrated by the issue, our team set out to build Clara—a one-stop shop for everything related to immigration, from visa interview prep and English speaking practice, to up-to-date immigration resources.

Our keystone feature is Clara, a human-like virtual immigration coach. Immigrants can use voice to have live conversations with Clara, practicing interview and communication skills. Clara is conversational, kind, and engaging—helping immigrants gain confidence while speaking. Clara also gives feedback, helps locate resources, and speaks over 40 languages, providing familiarity while easing the transition.

After each conversation, GPT-3.5-turbo and GPT-4o analyze and score the interaction across four key communication metrics, providing users with a tracked, data-driven growth path.

Clara also offers a research guide and interactive resource library where users can browse up-to-date information on immigration, local language learning programs, and networking opportunities—all in one place.

Additionally, we included an AI-powered chat assistant tailored to immigration questions and concerns.

Tech We Used:

  • Frontend: Next.js + React + Mantine UI for styling and prebuilt hooks.
  • Backend: Next.js edge functions with server-side rendering (SSR) and React Server Components (RSC), deployed on Vercel.
  • Streaming Voice/Video: HeyGen’s new Streaming API via WebRTC and WebSockets.
  • Speech Recognition: Browser’s inbuilt Google speech recognition to transcribe and process user input.
  • AI & NLP: OpenAI’s GPT-3.5-Turbo for chat and resource library queries; GPT-4o for performance scoring.
  • Authentication: Google OAuth.
  • Database: Supabase with PostgreSQL and real-time features.
  • Deployment: Vercel for full-stack deployment and hosting.

Clara was built in just 36 hours, and it reflects our belief that immigration should be accessible, empowering, and free from unnecessary stress. With Clara, we aim to make that belief a reality.