Tide | Devpost

Inspiration

Many tools track what we do and the time it took, but not how time feels. We were inspired by the idea that factors like stress, focus, sleep, and novelty shape our s of time, but this experience is invisible and difficult to reflect on.

What it does

Tide visualizes a user’s day based on how time felt, rather than just what happened. By combining signals from devices such as activity patterns, biometrics, environmental noise, and location changes, Tide creates a timeline that helps users see how their lifestyle influences their sense of time.

How it works in everyday life

Tide is designed for students and knowledge workers who feel their days are both rushed and slow at the same time, but struggle to understand why. Users download the app and select which device signals they are comfortable sharing. Throughout the day, Tide passively collects contextual and biometric data from phones, laptops, wearables, and the environment.

At the end of the day, Tide visualizes the user’s experiences on a timeline that reflects how time felt, highlighting moments of cognitive overload, deep focus, boredom, or novelty. Over days and weeks, Tide identifies patterns and surfaces actionable insights—for example, linking short sleep, high stress, or low physical activity to how long or exhausting days feel—and suggests small changes, like improving sleep conditions, studying in a different location, or taking breaks outside.

By connecting patterns that users might notice individually but rarely see together, Tide helps people reflect on their lifestyle and take steps to improve mental and emotional wellbeing.

How users manage insights

The timeline allows users to edit or correct moments if the system misinterprets their experience. Tide prioritizes a few meaningful insights at a time to avoid overwhelming users, focusing on patterns that affect wellbeing such as sleep, stress, focus, and environment.

Target wellness goal

Tide aims to support mental and emotional wellbeing by helping users recognize patterns that influence how their days feel. By understanding when they experience overload, boredom, or flow, users can make lifestyle changes that create healthier daily rhythms.

Safeguards

Tide is designed with user consent and control in mind. Users choose which signals they share, and all insights are framed as supportive suggestions rather than judgments. The ability to edit timeline events ensures transparency and prevents the system from making incorrect assumptions.

Challenges we ran into

One challenge was translating something as subjective as time perception into measurable signals. We also had to balance providing meaningful insights without overwhelming users with too much data.

What’s next for Tide

In the future, Tide could integrate more advanced sensing technologies to better detect cognitive states such as attention, stress, and environmental stimulation. We’re also interested in exploring ambient or wearable interfaces that help users become aware of their mental state in real time.