Event
LA Hacks
Team
Manav Sharma, Ayush Srivastava, Abhi Ramtel, Aryan Mudgal
Dots is an accessibility tool built at LA Hacks 2026 that converts floor plans into ADA-compliant tactile maps for blind and low-vision users. Built by Manav Sharma, Ayush Srivastava, Abhi Ramtel and Aryan Mudgal, Dots won both the Catalyst for Care track and the Agentverse Search and Discovery track by making physical spaces navigable for everyone.
What it solves
Over half of hiking-related injuries are caused by slips and falls, and most happen on trails where mobile data is limited or unavailable. After an injury, finding help can feel impossible. Northstar fixes that by building a complete emergency response system that works entirely without internet and can act on your behalf even if you are unconscious.
What it does
Dots takes a floor plan image and generates a high-contrast black-on-white tactile map with patterns and symbols, an ADA compliance summary report, and a unique QR code linked to that specific map. Anyone can scan the QR code and ask questions like "Where is the entrance?" or "How many exits are there?" by text or voice. Each map has its own isolated context so different venues never mix.
How it works
Dots is built on a Python and FastAPI backend. Gemini handles tactile map generation and extracts a compact map context to ground the Q&A. Fetch.ai ASI:One powers text-based Q&A using the per-map context as the system prompt. ElevenLabs handles voice sessions with short-lived server-minted tokens for security. SQLite stores per-map context and chat history keyed by map ID and session ID so every venue stays isolated.