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Inspiration

My grandmother didn't need someone to take over her phone. She needed someone beside her while she learned.

Last month, she started using a smartphone. Soon, she was calling me to ask how to play a song or plan a journey. I tried explaining each tap over the phone. In the end, my mother had to do it for her.

Conversations with her and other older adults revealed two needs: the independence to do things themselves, and guidance in a voice that felt familiar.

That's why I built NearMe.

What it does

NearMe is an AI companion that stays with you every step of the way, with a familiar voice.

In our working journey-planning demo, a user asks for help, enters their starting point and destination, and follows spoken guidance through each step. NearMe then opens Google Maps for transit route options. The person stays in control of the taps and decisions.

NearMe also guides users through finding and playing a song on YouTube, extending the same step-by-step support beyond journey planning.

The voice in our demo is an AI version of my own voice, created with my consent using ElevenLabs. It brings a familiar sound to the experience while remaining clearly an AI companion.

How we built it

NearMe is a native iPhone app built with Swift and SwiftUI. Apple's Foundation Models help interpret requests on-device, while local guidance rules structure the steps. Speech recognition and audio playback support the voice interaction.

Local speech is available. Optional cloned-voice responses use ElevenLabs in the cloud, so that feature requires an internet connection and sends response text to the voice service. Journey routing is handled by Google Maps.

Challenges and what we learned

A convincing demo needs more than a spoken answer. We worked through microphone interruptions, speech timing and keeping instructions aligned with what the person actually entered.

We also replaced tap-to-autofill practice fields with editable places and time selection. The selected departure time currently needs to be set again in Google Maps.

What's next

Our next step is a pilot with older adults, measuring task completion, confidence and how often another person needs to intervene. We want to use those findings to improve the guidance and expand to more everyday tasks.

Independence at their pace. Guided by AI. Completed by you.