Inspiration
InspirationProject Noor was inspired by the quiet academic and societal pressures facing students in places like Bangladesh, where mental health struggles are often met with silence. We recognized a gap in current wellness tools, which often feel too clinical or western-centric. Our goal was to create a "Safe Harbor" that respects the cultural and spiritual values of our community, ensuring students don't have to choose between modern science and their faith.
What it does
Noor is a web-based wellness companion that provides immediate, empathetic support through an anonymous chat interface. It uses a unique "Action Plan" approach that merges evidence-based psychology, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), with spiritual reflections like uplifting Quranic verses and prayers. The platform is designed to listen without judgment and includes built-in safety nets to detect deep crises and guide users toward human professional help.
How we built it
We built the prototype during the Build With AI Hack Days using the Gemini 1.5 Flash API for high-speed, empathetic responses. We utilized Google AI Studio to craft strict "System Instructions" that govern the AI’s personality and ensure it follows a three-part response logic: validation, a clinical tool, and a spiritual reflection. The frontend was developed using Streamlit to allow for a clean, accessible interface that works well on mobile and low-bandwidth connections.
Challenges we ran into
The primary challenge was walking the "fine line" of spiritual guidance; we had to ensure the AI remained gentle and uplifting without ever sounding judgmental or suggesting that mental health struggles are a result of weak faith. We also had to rigorously test the AI's crisis detection to ensure it would prioritize safety and provide local resources, like the Kaan Pete Roi hotline, the moment self-harm was detected
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We are proud of successfully "stitching" together two traditionally separate worlds—clinical science and faith—into a functional, real-time companion. We managed to build a working MVP in just two hours that maintains a warm, non-clinical persona while upholding strict ethical and safety guardrails
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