Material Forge

AI-Powered Material Transformation Pipeline for Designers

Transform any design into every possible material using Gemini 2.5 Flash Image Preview (Nano Banana). Upload a sketch, photo, or design and watch it come to life in wood, metal, glass, fabric, and dozens of other materials.

📺 Demo

Click the image above to watch the Material Forge demo video

🎯 What is Material Forge?

Material Forge is an innovative AI tool that solves a core design workflow problem: material exploration. Designers typically spend hours or days manually exploring how their creations would look in different materials. Material Forge compresses this process from days to minutes using advanced AI.

The Magic Behind It

1. Upload any design image (sketch, photo, 3D render)
2. AI Analysis detects current material and suggests 20+ alternatives
3. Parallel Transformation generates your design in every material simultaneously
4. Quality Validation ensures each transformation maintains design consistency
5. Interactive Gallery lets you explore, compare, and download all variations

🚀 Features

• 20+ Material Transformations: Wood, metal, glass, stone, fabric, synthetics, and more
• Smart Material Detection: Avoids redundant transformations by detecting current material
• Quality Validation: AI validates each transformation for accuracy
• Image Suitability Check: Validates uploaded images are suitable for material transformation
• Download All: Export individual images or complete material sets

🛠️ Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18.0 or higher (for local development)
• Gemini API key (get one at ai.google.dev)

Local Development

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/felipemeres/materialforge.git
   cd materialforge

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Configure API Key

   Create a .env.local file in the project root and add your Gemini API key:

   NEXT_PUBLIC_GEMINI_API_KEY=your_actual_api_key_here

   Important: Never commit your actual API key to version control. The .env.local file is already excluded in .gitignore.

4. Start the development server

   npm start
   # or npm run dev

5. Open in browser

   http://localhost:3000
   

📖 Usage

Basic Workflow

1. Upload Design: Drag and drop or click to upload your design image
2. Wait for Processing: AI analyzes and transforms your design (1-3 minutes)
3. Explore Results: Browse the gallery of material transformations
4. View Full Size: Click any image for full-screen viewing with navigation
5. Download: Save individual images or the complete set

Supported Image Types

✅ Great for Material Transformation:

• Product designs and sketches
• Furniture and architectural elements
• Tools, accessories, and objects
• 3D renders and technical drawings
• Simple, clear designs with recognizable shapes

❌ Not Suitable:

• Photos of people or animals
• Complex scenes with multiple objects
• Landscapes or natural environments
• Abstract art or patterns
• Food items or organic matter

🏗️ Technical Architecture

AI Pipeline Overview

flowchart LR
    A["User Upload<br/>📷 Image"] --> B["Material Detection<br/>🔍 Gemini Flash"]
    B --> C["Material Discovery<br/>🧠 AI Analysis"]
    C --> D["Parallel Transformation<br/>⚡ Nano Banana"]
    E["Quality Validation<br/>✅ Gemini Flash"] --> F["Interactive Gallery<br/>🖼️ Results"]
    
    D --> D1["Transform to<br/>each material"]
    D1 --> E

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Core Components

• Material Discovery: Gemini 2.5 Flash analyzes designs and suggests compatible materials
• Image Transformation: Gemini 2.5 Flash Image Preview (Nano Banana) performs material transformations
• Quality Validation: Gemini .5 Flash validates transformation accuracy
• Parallel Processing: Batch processing with configurable batch size (default: 5)
• Retry Logic: Up to 3 attempts per material for failed transformations

🔧 Configuration

API Limits

The application is designed to work within Gemini's daily API limits:

• Batch Size: 5 materials processed in parallel
• Material Count: 20+ materials per transformation
• Retry Logic: 3 attempts per failed material

Customization

You can modify these settings in server.js:

// Batch processing configuration
const BATCH_SIZE = 5; // Line 329

// Material discovery prompt (lines 384-426)
// Add or modify material categories and descriptions

// Transformation prompt (lines 486-501)  
// Adjust transformation instructions and quality requirements

🤝 Contributing

Material Forge was created for the Kaggle Nano Banana Hackathon. Contributions are welcome!

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.