Ugh man i just always feel like doomscrolling to relax my mind, I wish someone would look me dead in the eyes and say 'go outside or else' while slowly loading a paintball gun.
-a known friend
This is a submission for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge Week 1: Touch Grass
What I Built
Most wellness and habit-tracking apps fail for a simple reason: they act like boring productivity managers. They send polite notifications that everyone swipes away after two days.
My friend Prachi stays inside working at her desk for several hours a day. She loves cozy aesthetics, and silly internet pet humor. I wanted to build something for her that makes going outside feel like a cute mini-game backed by a pet that speaks in unhinged broken cat logic and escalates to chaotic demands if you try to ignore it.
That is Outside or else!: a cozy, ambient PWA built with open-weight local AI, OpenStreetMap data, and Google Font Gaego.
The entire app is built on a simple idea: screen time should be the shortest part of the experience. You pick an outdoor goal, and your pet guides you outside, locks your app during your walk, verifies your outdoor selfie locally on your phone, and remembers your journeys in a scrapbook. But if you ignore it twice? The pet dies of extreme sadness.
Demo
- 📥 Download APK: Get the latest Android release
- 🎥 Video Demo: Watch the app in action
Code
Outside or else!
Your pet has one mission. Get you outside.
A mobile-first React + TypeScript cozy outdoor companion game built around on-device local AI models, privacy-first offline persistence, and open map data.
🌟 Overview
Outside or Else! turns stepping outside into a tiny adventure. Adopt a pet, nurture a bond, and receive chaotic, unhinged reminders to step away from your screen. Screen time should be the shortest part of the game.
OUTSIDE OR ELSE! PWA
FRONTEND & UI
│ • React + Vite + TypeScript
│ • Hand-drawn Gaegu Font
│ • SunCalc (Ambient Lighting)
│ • OpenStreetMap / Overpass API
NATIVE ANDROID (CAPACITOR)
│ • llama.cpp (Qwen3-0.6B GGUF AI)
│ • Native Camera & Local Photos
│ • Local Notification Engine
│ • On-Device File Persistence.
✨ Features Included
7-Step Onboarding & Pet Selection: Short skippable splash screen guiding users through companion choice, naming, activity preferences, outdoor time…
How I Built It
Outside or Else! is built around on-device local AI models and open map data to ensure zero tracking and 100% offline functionality:
Local On-Device AI Generation (Qwen3-0.6B + llama.cpp):
The Android app bundles a quantized Qwen3-0.6B open-weight model and runs it locally using native llama.cpp integration. The pet generates new replies offline in airplane mode with zero cloud chat APIs or external downloads.
Ask Cat a question or trigger a response?
Cat generates replies locally: "human. you have legs. why are they not moving? MEOW HEEK!"
Grounded Suggestions & Real Walks (OpenStreetMap Overpass API + SunCalc):
Using SunCalc for dynamic room lighting and local OpenStreetMap queries via Overpass API, Cat calculates nearby walkable parks and sky timing, generating grounded suggestions in its unhinged voice:
"sky orange at 5:42. like big salmon. go to park now."
UI & Styling:
Typography: Set to Google Font Gaegu with bold, oversized headers (text-4xl) and subheaders (text-2xl).
Visuals: Warm pastel ambient lighting, soft borders, and an integrated bottom navigation bar (Nest, Outside, Brain Folder, Knobs).
Tech Stack
React • TypeScript • Vite • Capacitor • Android • Qwen3-0.6B • GGUF • llama.cpp • OpenStreetMap • SunCalc • Gaegu
Why Does Open Innovation Matter?
Open-weight AI puts a real model inside your phone. Here is why closed APIs couldn't do this:
Works 100% Offline: Closed APIs need internet. Bundling llama.cpp and Qwen3-0.6B lets your pet chat in airplane mode or on a trail.
Total Privacy: Closed APIs send your data to cloud servers. Open-weight AI keeps your pet chats, photos, and walks strictly on your device.
Zero API Costs: Closed APIs charge per request. Open-weight AI and OpenStreetMap run completely free forever without server bills.
Prize Categories
Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge — Week 1: Touch Grass
Best Use of Open-Source AI: Built with a bundled, quantized Qwen3-0.6B model running 100% locally on-device via llama.cpp—zero cloud dependencies, zero external APIs, and full offline support in airplane mode.
What I Learned & Final Thoughts
A cute concept is easy to pitch, but making an offline AI model run on real Android hardware, preserving local state during upgrades, and handling native permissions takes real engineering.
Most apps want you to stay. Outside or Else! wants you to leave. Take a short walk, watch the sky, bring back a photo, and let your pet greet you with an unreasonable demand:
😼 "HUMAN. DOOR EXISTS. LEGS EXIST. GO TOUCH GRASS. HEEK!"
Built with @saksham_malik_2606 (consistently advocates touching grass)
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