CalmType

Empowered by AI.

Natural language models should not kill creativity; we use them to support natural language. We type like how we speak, we concentrate on where we are, and we find peace in flowing words.

Inspiration

When we were brainstorming for our product in google doc this Friday, we noticed that we are easily distracted by typos and grammar mistakes. This broke our flow and pulled us away from our ideas. Then we realized maybe we don’t have such an app these days that focus on the brainstorming experience itself. With the help of AI, we saw the opportunity to build a space where you can just type freely and let the system take care of grammar and clarity later. That’s how our idea for CalmType was born.

What it does

CalmType is a mindful writing tool that helps you focus on your ideas, not your typos. You only see what you’re typing now because the rest fades away. When you’re done, AI polishes your words into perfect grammar and sentence structure. It’s writing, simplified. It’s creativity, unchained. All prepared with wonderful scene and experiences, making the typing charming.

How we built it

We built this product using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create a simple and smooth typing experience.It runs on a Node.js server hosted on Render, with a PostgreSQL database handling all the data. The system only shows the words you’re typing while older text fades away, using JavaScript and CSS animations. The whole project was built in VS Code and Cursor, managing with GitHub. We also used DeepSeek AI to fix grammar and polish sentences in real time.

Challenges we ran into

When new functions are added into the website, we always face thousands of bugs.
The collaboration through Github branches was chaotic at first, as we struggled to merge different versions and resolve frequent code conflicts.
From the vision aspect, it is hard to design an experience that is close to speaking and hard to track down what users really need, such as the pace of disappearing words and what front will be the most comfortable one for them.
It is also hard to modify the AI and tell them exactly what they should do with the words, since it is unpredictable.
It is challenging to figure out a way to build up an appropriate server for prototyping

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Despite the limitation of time, aesthetics of the product is ensured and we left enough space for users to customize their personal experience, such as background music, font, font size, and background.

What we learned

Learned how to identify real user needs and design from empathy. Understood how to turn abstract ideas into practical, meaningful products. Learned to keep design simple and emotionally supportive. Discovered how interface and sound can influence user emotions. Practiced building and testing prototypes efficiently. Learned to collaborate effectively through GitHub. Explored how to use online resources — including AI-generated music, code, and shapes — to boost creativity. Realized that technology can be gentle: it can calm, inspire, and heal.

What's next for CalmType (Important)

From the individual poetry to group with dreams. Eventually, we want to build up a community where everyone can show their ideas at their own pace in a calm and creative space. It should also have the function of making a room server or a bunch of servers through codes and it should form a collaborative work space where the users typing in revised and show up on other users’ interfaces. Furthermore, the team record can be downloaded as a log or a doc, so they can use it for a creation scene or brainstorming event.

For commercial users, the platform will offer customization options for backgrounds, sounds, and overall workspace design. (We are also thinking about adding customized wording disappearing speed). It allows teams to create branded experiences that reflect their company’s visual and auditory identity. This setup can be applied to various scenarios, such as customer services, team meetings, or corporate brainstorming sessions.