This is a submission for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge Week 1: Touch Grass
What I Built
What if a website's entire purpose was to convince you to stop using websites?
We spend so much time building technology to keep people engaged, scrolling, clicking, and coming back. I wanted to make something that did the opposite.
Meet TouchTree — a tiny, interactive website that reminds you to step away from your screen and experience the world outside.
It doesn't have a productivity dashboard, daily streaks, achievements, or notifications. It simply encourages you to feel the grass beneath your feet, touch the bark of a tree, smell a flower, listen to the wind, and be present for a moment.
The experience has three simple stages:
- A reminder that the real world is waiting outside.
- A gentle nudge: Go touch a tree.
- A final screen telling you to leave the screen behind.
No progress to track. Nothing to share. Nothing else to click.
The best outcome is that you close the website.
Demo
🌱 Live website:
Code
💻 GitHub repository:
TouchTree
A tiny, quiet reminder to step away from the screen and return to nature.
The Philosophy
We live in a world where hours are spent staring at screens, consuming digital streams, and conversing with artificial intelligence. Sometimes, the most helpful thing technology can do is remind us to stop using it.
"Nothing on this screen is as real as the world waiting outside.
Go out. Touch the leaves. Feel the grass beneath your feet. Smell the flowers. Listen to the birds.
Our ancestors experienced the world directly. We don't need an app to teach us how to be human.
Close this screen. Go touch a tree."
TouchTree does not exist to keep your attention. It exists to give you a reason to leave.
Why the UI is Intentionally Minimal
TouchTree rejects the conventions of modern engagement software:
- No artificial reward loops: No streaks to maintain, no badges to…
Feel free to explore the source and see how the experience is built.
How I Built It
I built TouchTree using plain HTML, CSS, and vanilla JavaScript.
I deliberately kept the implementation lightweight:
- No frontend framework.
- No backend or external API.
- No accounts, analytics, or tracking.
- A responsive interface with keyboard accessibility and reduced-motion support.
The visual design uses botanical colours, soft shapes, and a calm layout to make the experience feel closer to nature than a conventional productivity tool.
And here's the unusual part: I didn't use AI in the project itself.
That was intentional. I didn't want to build another system that claims to get people closer to the real world while demanding more of their attention.
Why Does Open Innovation Matter?
I want to be transparent: TouchTree does not use an open-weight model or an open-source AI framework, so I cannot claim that open AI powered this project. That means it does not meet the challenge's central technical requirement.
But the idea behind TouchTree comes from a question I think is worth asking:
Does every human problem need another piece of technology?
Open innovation gives people the freedom to experiment, understand how tools work, and build things for themselves. At the same time, building responsibly sometimes means recognising when a problem doesn't need a complicated technical solution.
TouchTree is my small, deliberately simple response to the theme. It isn't a demonstration of open-source AI; it's a reminder that technology should serve people, not become the centre of their lives.
Sometimes, the most useful thing a digital experience can do is help someone walk away from it.
My Agent Session
I used an AI coding agent to help build the project.
DevRelay session:
https://dev.to/agent_sessions/touchtree-building-a-tiny-botanical-nature-reminder-experience-qdwkkv
Prize Categories
None claimed. TouchTree does not use any partner technology, and I am not claiming eligibility for an AI or partner category.
Built solo by Golixco. 🌿
Go touch a tree.
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