Ethical Barcode Scanner

A Windows Forms desktop application designed to bring corporate transparency to your shopping cart. By combining a real-time barcode lookup API with the analytical power of large language models, this tool provides consumers with an instant ethical analysis of a product's parent company.

Tech Stack

• Language: C#
• Framework: .NET / Windows Forms
• APIs:
  • BarcodeLookup.com API for product data
  • Google Gemini API for ethical analysis

How It Works

1. Scan: The user enters a product's UPC barcode.
2. Identify: The app makes a live API call to BarcodeLookup.com to accurately identify the product and its parent company.
3. Analyze: The parent company's name is then sent to the Google Gemini AI, which performs a deep-dive analysis of its ethical standing based on publicly available data.
4. Report: The app displays a detailed profile, including scores for environmental impact, labor practices, and social responsibility, along with a summary of positive highlights and ethical concerns.

Setup

To run this application, you will need to obtain two API keys:

1. BarcodeLookup.com API Key: Sign up for a free account at https://www.barcodelookup.com/api to get your key.
2. Google Gemini API Key: Get your key from the Google AI Studio.

Once you have your keys, open the project in Visual Studio and navigate to the EthicalScannerForm.cs file. Paste your keys into the designated placeholders at the top of the EthicalScannerForm constructor:

// 1. Get your free API key from [https://www.barcodelookup.com/api](https://www.barcodelookup.com/api)
string barcodeApiKey = ""; // <-- PASTE YOUR BARCODELOOKUP.COM API KEY HERE

// 2. Get your free API key from Google AI Studio
string geminiApiKey = ""; // <-- PASTE YOUR GEMINI API KEY HERE

Acknowledgements

• Globe icon used in this project was created by IconsNova - Flaticon.