Mark English

Snack ai

I like to use the Christmas holiday downtime to learn something new, and I’d been meaning to look into integrating local AI into a mobile app for a while.

Then, while I was eating a piece of Cadbury Snack, my wife asked, “What flavour is this one?” That question instantly turned into my next side project.

Snack AI is an Android app built with Flutter that uses YOLO-based computer vision to identify which Cadbury Snack flavour you’re holding — purely from the camera image. Just point your phone at the chocolate, and the app tells you the flavour using on-device AI.

It’s turned out to be a fun, practical way to explore mobile AI.

* not publicly available (I suspect Cadbury would bury me for using their logo and purple colour)

GoPro 360 stitcher

A web based GoPro 360 stitcher application for creating immersive 360-degree images. GoPro have stopped some older models so it was time to create a new solution. Making use of GPU shaders and web assembly, I was able to create a fast seamless stitching experience for the browser.

* preview video only (not ready for primetime)

"It's a Me, Mario", Super Mario style 3d model creator

A web based tool to create your own Super Mario style 3d models for 3d printing. The full version allows for a user to submit the job to a backend service that creates the stl for download. It creates high quality models ready for 3d printing with no mesh errors.

* This demo isnt connected to the backend, however Give it a go!

Hologram file converter

I got my hands on a very cool "hologram" toy from china, while the hardware is great the software is lacking. I created a web based tool to convert standard video files it's hologram format, making it easy to create custom content for the device on any platform.

* preview video only (not ready for primetime)

"Dramatic Screenshots" creator

Used here for the banner images, this tool allows for quick and easy generation of dramatic screenshots from any images content. With realistic pixel screen effects and heavy depth of field simulation, it transforms ordinary screencaps into much more interesting visuals.

* preview video only (not ready for primetime)

While booking a haircut, I stumbled across a web app that let anyone view thousands of client details just by guessing a name. Here's how it happened, what went wrong, and how the company handled it.

When Telstra/Bigpond quietly removed key features from my router, I quietly put them back. Sorry, not sorry.

As a kid, I loved UFO stories, even though many turned out to be more fiction than fact. Now, as a parent, I wanted something truthful and age-appropriate for my own children. Nothing like that existed, so I decided to make it myself.

Drawing on my background in eLearning and digital storytelling, I created a book that explains the real history of the UFO phenomenon. It’s an easy-to-digest, factual guide to what’s been observed, what we know, and the questions that remain.

Coming super soon to Amazon Kindle and print!

Big fan of Back to the Future. On a recent rewatch I thought it would be cool to build a desktop replica of the Twin Pines mall clock.

A simple setup that uses an ESP32 microcontroller, PlatformIO/Arduino code, a 3D-printed case, and addressable LEDs.

After WIFI setup is completed it syncs time from an NTP server and displays it in style. The code and models are open source on Makerworld & GitHub if you want to build your own.