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🚀 LabLog

🗂️ Project Overview

  • Student ID: 20220162
  • Name: Joohyeun Kim
  • Project Title: LabLog
  • Summary (3–4 sentences):
    In wet lab environments, handwritten lab notes are essential for verifying the authenticity of experimental data. However, managing, searching, and preserving these physical records is inefficient and error-prone. This project proposes a system where lab notes are periodically photographed and processed using AI-based OCR to extract textual content. The extracted data is then encrypted and stored on the blockchain. Upon publication of the research, the encryption key is released, allowing others to verify the integrity and timeline of the research process.

1. 🧩 Problem: What Problem Are You Solving?

  • Wet lab researchers rely heavily on handwritten notes to document experiments, observations, and results.
  • These notes are vulnerable to physical damage, loss, and manipulation, and are difficult to search or verify over time.
  • Existing digital lab notebooks lack robust mechanisms for proving the authenticity and timestamp of entries.
  • There is a need for a secure, tamper-proof, and verifiable system to store and manage lab notes without compromising confidentiality before publication.

2. 💡 Solution: Your Proposed Approach

  • Researchers periodically take photos of their handwritten lab notes (daily, weekly, or per experiment).
  • AI-based OCR (Optical Character Recognition) extracts the textual content from the images.
  • The extracted data is encrypted using symmetric encryption and stored on a blockchain or decentralized storage (e.g., IPFS).
  • A digital signature is added using asymmetric cryptography to prove authorship and timestamp.
  • The encryption key remains private until the research is published. Upon publication, the key is released, allowing others to decrypt and verify the notes.
  • Lab Note → Photo → AI based OCR → Encrypted → Signed → Stored on Blockchain ↓ Key Released Upon Publication ↓ Public Verification of Authenticity

3. 🔗 Why Blockchain (and Token)?

  • Blockchain provides an immutable, timestamped ledger to store encrypted lab notes securely.
  • It ensures that once a note is uploaded, it cannot be altered or deleted, preserving the integrity of the research timeline.
  • The decentralized nature of blockchain prevents single-point failure or tampering.
  • No token is used in this system, as the primary goal is verification and integrity—not incentivization or governance.

4. 🛠️ MVP or Prototype

  • Current status:
    ☐ Idea only
  • Key features you implemented AI-based OCR pipeline for extracting text from handwritten notes Symmetric encryption of extracted data Digital signature using asymmetric keys Blockchain storage of encrypted notes with timestamp

5. 📬 Submission to Hackathons or Grant Programs

  • Name of the program you submitted to: Base Onchain Summer Awards
  • Submission link: https://devfolio.co/projects/lablog-99cf
  • Short summary of your submitted description: LabLog is a system that combines AI and blockchain to securely store and verify handwritten lab notes. It ensures confidentiality during research and transparency upon publication.
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6. 🤔 Reflection & Future Work

  • What did you learn during this project? Gained deeper understanding of cryptographic key management and blockchain storage protocols. Explored the limitations of OCR in processing handwritten scientific notes.

  • What would be the biggest challenges? Ensuring high OCR accuracy for diverse handwriting styles. Balancing encryption strength with performance and accessibility.

  • What would you improve or build next if you had more time? Develop a user-friendly interface for researchers to upload and manage notes.

7. 📚 References