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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://youtu.be/4T6im0NMmkg?si=lDU0QK-GsNhR8zwh\nInspiration\nFor people with ADHD, starting tasks isn't about motivation—it's about executive dysfunction, a neurological barrier that makes \"just starting\" feel impossible.\nMembers of our team with ADHD experience this daily:\nSpending 45 minutes trying to start a 10-minute assignment\nJuggling five different productivity apps that each demand executive function\nLosing thoughts while switching between calendar, notes, and to-do lists\nGetting overwhelmed by setup tasks before even reaching actual work\nCurrent productivity tools make this\nworse\n—they require typing, organizing, and decision-making, adding cognitive load to already overwhelmed brains.\nNeuri takes a radically different approach: speak your thoughts, and everything else happens automatically. Studies show that voice-based interfaces can reduce cognitive load by up to 40% for neurodiverse users. Voice input captures tasks instantly before working memory fails. AI parsing eliminates decision-making. Automatic organization removes the planning burden. Over 15.5 million U.S. adults (6.0% of the population) and 7.1 million children and adolescents (11.4% of youth) have been diagnosed with ADHD. Neuri is specifically designed to remove this neurological barrier for this massive user base, but its frictionless, voice-first system helps anyone who struggles to start and stay organized. Because starting shouldn't be the hardest part of doing.\nWhy Now?\nThe world is facing an executive function crisis—and the tools meant to help are part of the problem. For 1 in 7 college students with ADHD, productivity platforms become another layer of friction instead of relief, contributing to missed deadlines, burnout, and academic setbacks that ripple into adulthood.\nBut this challenge doesn’t fade with age—it scales. The same cognitive overload that stalls a student’s progress becomes corporate burnout for employees. U.S. companies lose an estimated $4,000–$21,000 per worker annually to the hidden costs of executive dysfunction.\nUntil recently, technology couldn’t meet this need. Interfaces still depended on typing, tapping, and decision-making—the very processes impaired by ADHD and executive dysfunction. But with the rise of voice-first large language models, for the first time, we can remove—not just reframe—the neurological barrier to getting started.\nThe time for Neuri is\nnow\n: the science is clear, the technology is ready, and the need has never been greater. Neuri’s intuitive, voice-first design scales to everyone--positioning it for global adoption in the rapidly expanding productivity-tech market and targeting a growing, multibillion-dollar market for cognitive productivity and digital wellness.\nWhat it does\nIntroducing Neuri: Your Voice-Powered ADHD Productivity Companion\nNeuri isn't just another task manager; it's a voice-first AI system that transforms scattered thoughts into organized action through an intuitive reward system. Here's what it can do:\nVoice Input (The Main Interaction):\nNatural Speech Recognition:\nSpeak naturally: \"I have to finish my bio lab and buy groceries\" - no special commands needed\nAI Intent Parsing:\nAutomatically detects deadlines and categories from your speech patterns and updates your dashboard instantly\nZero Manual Entry:\nNo typing, no scrolling through messy calendars - just speak and go\nAutomatic Organization:\nSmart Task Linking:\nAI connects detected tasks to Calendar\nIntelligent Categorization:\nGroups tasks under school/personal/work categories and displays them clearly on your dashboard\nFocus + Progress System:\nPoint-Based Progress:\nCompleted tasks earn points that feed directly into your streak, badge, and leaderboard system\nRewards (Motivation Loop):\nStreak Recognition:\nCompleting tasks or maintaining streaks increases your streak count\nBadges:\nHit milestones to unlock badges for achievements\nLeaderboard:\nOptional social comparison with friends to encourage light accountability without shame\nReminders + Quick Thoughts:\nFleeting Thought Capture:\nSave short voice notes as \"quick thoughts\" - perfect for ADHD brains that jump between ideas rapidly\nAI Summarization:\nThe AI later transforms these scattered thoughts into actionable tasks or suggestions\nGentle Nudges:\nSet supportive reminders that encourage rather than nag\nWhy This Stands Out:\nLess Typing, Less Friction:\nADHD brains speak faster than they type; voice removes the barrier\nZero Clutter:\nReplaces calendars and to-do lists with a single visual reward system (streaks, badges, leaderboard)\nBuilt-in Dopamine:\nFeedback from streaks, badges, and leaderboard creates micro-rewards that sustain motivation\nScience-Aligned:\nAddresses task initiation, working-memory offloading, and overload reduction — the core executive-function deficits in ADHD\nHow we built it\nWe built Neuri as a React Native mobile application using Expo, focusing on voice interaction and visual feedback.\nCore Technology:\nVoice Processing:\nDeepgram API\nfor voice capabilities - handles transcription and processing ($200 free credits)\nDatabase Schema:\nSQLAlchemy models\ndefining five core tables:\nUsers:\nStores profile information and preferences (preferred work time, pace)\nCategories:\nUser-defined categories for organizing missions (Work, Study, Life)\nRoutines:\nStores routines with schedule data as JSON\nMissions:\nCentral table handling all tasks, projects, notes, and reminders through a MissionType enum\nRewards:\nTracks gamification progress including points, streaks, badges, leaderboard position, and milestone unlocks\nCore Functionality:\nWe implemented three main feature sets:\nRoutine Management:\nCreate, edit, and delete routines\nTask Management:\nAdd, edit, and delete normal tasks\nReminder System:\nSet, edit, and delete reminders\nMission Types:\nThe missions table uses an enum to handle four types:\nTASK\nPROJECT (can have sub-tasks via parent_project_id)\nNOTE\nREMINDER\nGamification System:\nThe rewards table tracks:\nPoints (spendable currency)\nCurrent streak\nBadges earned\nLeaderboard position\nMilestone unlocks stored as JSON list\nChallenges we ran into\nOne of our biggest challenges was figuring out how to build an app that people with ADHD would actually use—and keep using. Early on, we asked ourselves tough questions:\nHow do we retain users when ADHD itself makes consistency hard?\nHow can we avoid becoming another app in the “ADHD app graveyard”?\nWhy can’t this just be a plug-in instead of a standalone tool?\nHow do we hook the audience this was inspired by (people with ADHD) while also appealing to everyone else who struggles with task paralysis?\nMost importantly: people with ADHD often struggle to\nstart\n—so what would make them start with us?\nTechnically, integrating\nvoice AI, task parsing, and real-time dashboard updates\ninto one seamless flow also proved complex. We had to coordinate the AI model’s logic, task categorization, and the visual feedback system (the “growing tree”) in real time without overwhelming users—especially on mobile.\nAccomplishments that we're proud of\nWe’re proud of our application being grounded in science: Neuri isn’t just another planner—it’s built around cognitive science, specifically reducing executive function load through frictionless design and automatic structuring. Finally, we’re proud that Neuri can scale beyond ADHD, providing effortless organization for anyone who experiences procrastination, decision fatigue, or burnout.\nWhat we learned\nHow to Design for the ADHD Brain\nWe learned how to design an AI agent that bridges neuroscience and usability. Through research into ADHD cognition, we discovered that most existing tools (like Tiimo) still rely heavily on manual setup and visual interaction. These interfaces—timers, lists, and checklists—still require executive function to initiate. Our insight: voice-first automation removes that barrier entirely. By offloading planning, typing, and decision-making to AI, users can start tasks through a single, natural input: speech.\nWhy Neuri is Different\nWhile Tiimo focuses on visual planning (timers, checklists, and flexible scheduling), Neuri takes a voice-first, AI-native approach:\nVoice over visuals:\nNeuri’s primary interface is speech, not buttons or lists. This removes the need to plan before starting.\nAutomation over input:\nInstead of manually building a schedule, Neuri’s AI listens and auto-organizes.\nMotivation loop:\nThe streak, badge, and leaderboard system rewards consistency and makes progress feel tangible—an emotional feedback layer missing from Tiimo.\nScalable design:\nWhile inspired by ADHD, Neuri is intentionally built to help anyone struggling with overwhelm or task initiation—not just one neurotype.\nHow We Market Neuri\nFinally, we gained insight into how Neuri not only fills a gap for ADHD users but also has a significant opportunity in the broader productivity market and potential to scale.\nADHD Prevalence:\nApproximately 15.5 million adults in the U.S. have ADHD.\nApp Adoption Challenges:\nMany ADHD-focused apps fail to engage users effectively. For instance, a study on the FOCUS ADHD App noted high adoption rates but did not increase adherence to treatment, suggesting room for improvement in user engagement and effectiveness.\nVoice Assistant Adoption:\nOver 62% of U.S. adults report regular use of a voice assistant, indicating a broad market for voice-driven productivity tools.\nProductivity Gains:\nEnterprise implementations of voice assistants have reported up to 40% increases in productivity and 60% reductions in routine task completion time.\nScalability:\nNeuri's voice-driven approach not only addresses ADHD-specific needs but also has the potential to scale to a broader audience, including professionals and students, leveraging the widespread adoption of voice assistants.\nWhat's next for Neuri\nBeyond the Hackathon:\nGiven the time constraint, we focused on core voice input and tree visualization features. With more time, we plan to add these key features in development:\nOne-Tap Activation:\nEach task includes a \"start\" action that opens related links or Google Docs automatically\nInstant Focus Mode:\nWhen you start a task, a distraction-free environment appears with timer and calm background\nShared Forests\n: Study groups or teams could cultivate forests together, seeing collective progress\nKids Mode\n: Feature similar to YouTube kids that makes child friendly\nEnhancement\n: If we had more time, we would enhance the reward system to include tree growth visualization as a visual (e.g. a seed growing into a tree as tasks are done) for even more engaging motivation (an original idea that we ran out of time to implement)\nWork Distribution\nMeet the Team Behind Neuri!\nMoi – Backend logic:\nvoice input → AI → task management, reward system updates.\nSaif – Frontend/UI:\nExpo app structure, focus screen; collaborated with Moi on full-stack + ML integration.\nMaya\n– First-time college hackathon participant; contributed research background in neuroscience and psychology (psychoimmunology, behavioral studies, ADHD), framed the Devpost submission, and helped shape the pitch/storytelling.\nCandy\n– Product direction and branding: led pitch narrative, storytelling, and reality-checking the idea; facilitated communication between engineers and team strategy."