Smiley - Mental Wellbeing Application

Inspiration

Smiley was inspired by the reality that for many people, professional wellbeing support is out of reach. Costs, availability, or the fear of sharing sensitive details often keep people from getting help. We asked ourselves: what if support could come from a trusted companion that lives entirely on your own device — private, offline, and always available? That question became the foundation for Smiley.

What it does

Smiley is a privacy-first, offline AI companion fine-tuned for emotional support and mindfulness. It guides users through natural conversations, personalized profiles, secure journals, and a dedicated Mindfulness Studio for guided breathing and calming exercises. Everything is stored locally, encrypted, and never leaves the device.

How we built it

We combined Astro and Preact for a lightweight, responsive frontend, styled with Tailwind CSS and DaisyUI for accessibility and polish. The AI core runs through Ollama, hosting our fine-tuned GPT-Smiley model for empathetic and mindful responses. Data is securely managed in IndexedDB and localStorage, while PWA support ensures installability and offline use.

Challenges we ran into

Optimizing GPT-OSS weights to run smoothly offline while retaining conversational depth. Designing onboarding that balances technical setup with a warm, human feel. Ensuring strong encryption for journals and chats without complicating usability. Creating mindful routines that feel natural when generated by an AI model.

Accomplishments that we’re proud of

Delivering a fully offline-first experience with no external servers. Fine-tuning GPT-Smiley specifically for emotional support and mindfulness guidance. Building an app that feels approachable and safe, not technical or intimidating. Making privacy and accessibility central pillars of the experience.

What we learned

We learned how important thoughtful fine-tuning is when shaping an AI for wellbeing contexts. We also discovered the value of careful UX design — onboarding, theming, and encryption are not just technical details, they define trust and comfort for users.

What’s next

We want to expand Smiley’s Mindfulness Studio with more guided routines, create visualization dashboards for journals, and refine the fine-tune with feedback from diverse communities. Our vision is to make Smiley a truly universal offline wellbeing companion.

Built With

• astro
• css
• daisyui
• gpt-smiley
• indexeddb
• ollama
• preact
• tailwind