Flare

Inspiration

It's 3am. No one to call. No meeting to go to. Just you and the addiction(s) you're trying to quit. Most recovery apps would show you a streak counter. We wanted to build something that talks to you in your mom's voice and helps you quit that addiction. Because we know addiction recovery can be lonely. Most apps feel like clinical-trackers, check-ins, or cold reminders. We wanted to build something that felt like having not just someone, but your mom, your dad, your sister, in your corner 24/7, especially during that 3 am crave when there's no one to call.

What it does

Flare is an anonymous recovery companion. When you crave your addiction, you press one button. Flare walks you through a breathing reset, checks in on your mood via voice, then deploys a personalized activity to redirect your dopamine, all in the voice of someone you love (your mom, sponsor, or friend). Your sobriety journey unlocks an RPG-style world map and each milestone reveals new territory. Users can also stake SOL tokens as accountability skin-in-the-game, earning it back session by session.

How we built it

React + Vite frontend with Zustand for state, Node.js/Express backend, Supabase for data, ElevenLabs for voice cloning and TTS, Google Gemini for personalized spark generation, Solana wallet adapter for the recovery stake feature, Socket.io for real-time sessions. Deployed on Vercel (frontend) and DigitalOcean (backend).

Challenges we ran into

We had difficulties getting ElevenLabs voice cloning working in Node 18 (File API not available. We had to use Blob with filename arg). Also, building a fullscreen RPG map entirely in SVG so zone markers stayed consistent with the screen under preserveAspectRatio slice scaling was challenging. And, most importantly, keeping the experience feel warm and human rather than gamified or preachy, which was our goal for the website, was difficult.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Our main feature, voice cloning that lets Flare speak in your mom's actual voice during a craving, was something that we are proud of. A real fog-of-war sobriety map that makes 100 days feel like an adventure worth finishing and a completely anonymous auth with just a username, peer connect, where you connect with someone else who's going through a craving at the moment too, which is completely anonymous, if any sensitive information is leaked, Gemma will end the chat :), and you can deposit money and get it back after you complete sessions are other features that we are super super proud of.

What we learned

The hardest part of building for mental health is the tone. Every word, every interaction had to feel like a friend, not an app. We also learned how much design decisions (color, pacing, voice speed) affect emotional safety.

What's next for Flare

We are super excited to continue working and plan on therapist integrations, wearable craving detection via heart rate, and expanding the map to 365 days in the upcoming days!