This is a submission for the Hacktoberfest Open-Source AI Challenge Week 1: Touch Grass
What I Built
I built TouchGrass AI, an AI-powered project designed to help people spend less time scrolling on their screens and more time exploring the real world.
The idea is simple: instead of just telling people to reduce their screen time, the app gives them personalized outdoor challenges, such as taking a short walk, visiting a nearby park, exploring a new place, or spending time with friends without their phones.
The AI helps generate activities based on a user's available time, interests, and preferences, making it easier to turn small daily actions into healthier habits.
It's designed for students, developers, remote workers, and anyone who spends too much time in front of a screen.
The goal isn't to replace technology. It's to use technology to help people reconnect with the world outside it.
Code
The project is built with an open-source-first approach, keeping the code accessible so other developers can explore it, contribute improvements, and build on the idea.
How I Built It
I approached this project with one question: Can AI help people spend less time using AI and technology?
The application combines an interactive interface with an AI-powered activity recommendation system. Users can provide their interests and available time, and the AI suggests practical activities they can complete offline.
The planned architecture includes:
- Frontend: A simple, user-friendly interface for discovering activities and tracking completed challenges.
- AI layer: An open-source language model to generate personalized outdoor challenges and suggestions.
- Backend: Handles user preferences, challenge requests, and application logic.
- Habit-building features: Encourages users to complete real-world activities rather than endlessly consume digital content.
AI model and framework: [Add the actual open-weight model, inference tool, and framework you used.]
I focused on making the experience lightweight and practical. The AI should help users take action, not give them another reason to stay on their screens.
Why Does Open Innovation Matter?
Open innovation matters because tools designed to improve our lives should be accessible to everyone, not just people who can afford expensive APIs.
Using open-source AI can give developers more control over their applications, more flexibility in choosing models, and opportunities to experiment with different approaches.
It also makes the project easier for the community to inspect, improve, and adapt for different users and environments.
For a project like TouchGrass AI, openness creates opportunities to experiment with local inference, reduce reliance on external services, and make AI-powered habit-building tools more accessible.
Most importantly, the community can help improve the idea and make it useful for more people.
Prize Categories
Build with AI. Step outside. Touch grass. 🌱
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