Talk.io - Lumi (Team 0X67)

Talk.ItOut(io) provides a private digital space for students to express their feelings and seek support using Lumi, a conversational virtual counsellor.

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Inspiration

The statistic hit us hard: one in three young Singaporeans experience mental health struggles, yet 30.9% never seek help. As we dug into the IMH Mind Matters study, we realized the problem wasn't lack of awareness—it was accessibility. Today's youths are digital natives who text more than they talk, yet mental health support still relies heavily on phone calls and face-to-face meetings. We saw a gap between how young people communicate naturally and how help is traditionally offered. We were inspired by the idea that technology shouldn't replace human counsellors—it should bridge the gap to reach them. What if we could create a safe, judgment-free digital space that feels as natural as chatting with a friend, but smart enough to know when professional help is needed?

What it does

Talk.ItOut is an AI-powered mental wellness platform designed specifically for students who need support but aren't ready to walk into a counselor's office. At its heart is Lumi, an empathetic conversational AI counsellor that students can talk to anytime, anywhere. For students:

Chat with Lumi through text or voice in a private, stigma-free environment Choose to remain completely anonymous or log in for personalized support Track daily moods to identify patterns over time Access guided breathing exercises for immediate relief Get connected to school counsellors when they're ready or when AI detects high risk

For school counsellors:

Monitor aggregated student wellbeing trends through an intuitive dashboard Receive automated alerts when students show signs of crisis Review conversation summaries (with student consent) to provide informed follow-up Respond directly to students who request human support Focus their time on students who need it most

The platform creates a stepped-care model: students start with AI support, and seamlessly transition to human counsellors when appropriate.

How we built it

Using Lovable for Frontend UI, Elevenlabs for voice agent, Gemini 2.5 Model.

Challenges we ran into

Anonymity vs. personalization trade-off Students want privacy, but counsellors need context to help effectively. We solved this with a gradual trust-building model: students start anonymous, and as they build comfort, they can choose to log in and share more. We also implemented a consent-based system where students control what counsellors can see.

Making AI feel genuinely empathetic Generic chatbot responses would destroy trust instantly. We spent significant time prompt engineering to ensure Lumi validates feelings, asks thoughtful follow-ups, and never sounds dismissive. We trained it to recognize when someone needs to vent versus when they need concrete coping strategies.

Accomplishments that we're proud of 💬

Built a working end-to-end solution within 2 days

Created an solution that feels human through careful prompt engineering and conversational design—early testers said talking to Lumi felt natural.

Implemented intelligent risk detection that can identify crisis situations and immediately connect students to help

What we learned

How to engineer AI prompts for sensitive, high-stakes conversations The complexity of building ethically responsible mental health technology Real-time data synchronization strategies with browser storage constraints

The specific barriers young people face when seeking mental health support How school counsellors actually work and what tools would help them most Hardest problems aren't always technical—they're about understanding human needs

What's next for Talk.io - Lumi (Team 0X67)

Multi-language support starting with Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil to serve Singapore's diverse student population Pilot program with 2-3 Singapore schools to gather real-world feedback from students and counsellors Enhanced AI training with actual conversation data (anonymized and ethically collected) to improve Lumi's responses

Peer support circles where students can opt into moderated group chats with others facing similar challenges

Our ultimate goal: Make seeking mental health support as normal and accessible as texting a friend, while ensuring students get the professional help they need when they need it.

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