OnlyGrass | Devpost

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Inspiration

We were inspired by the phrase “touch grass”, a modern reminder to disconnect from screens and reconnect with the world around us. With dating apps dominating mobile UX, we thought: what if swiping wasn’t about people, but about nature? OnlyGrass was born to help people rediscover public green spaces, and maybe find friends to enjoy them with.

What it does

OnlyGrass is a Tinder-style app that lets users swipe on patches of grass instead of people. Users can filter for shady, lush, or pet-friendly lawns and avoid muddy, goose-filled, or toxic areas. When two users swipe right on the same patch, the app schedules a “touch grass” group event and sends invites via calendar and chat integrations.

How we built it

We used Gemini’s Maps and Vision APIs to detect and classify grass patches from satellite and street-level data. Claude 4 generated descriptive, humorous blurbs for each location. Orkes powered the backend workflows for event scheduling and calendar/chat integration. The frontend was built using React Native, while the backend is designed to be scalable, minimal, and API-first.

Challenges we ran into

Building a geospatial classifier that worked across different park types and climates was complex. Generating meaningful image metadata with Gemini required prompt tuning. Also, building a good UI for a mobile app of this caliber in this amount of time was pretty difficult.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We created a smooth, clean UX that felt both playful and functional. Our automated grass classifier worked on real locations with high accuracy. The event-matching flow, including group creation and webhook scheduling, ran reliably end-to-end. Most importantly, we delivered a full-stack MVP that made people smile.

What we learned

We learned how to integrate multiple AI platforms meaningfully: using Claude for tone and description, Gemini for perception and geolocation, and Orkes for workflow automation. We also refined our thinking around how to build whimsical interfaces that feel purposeful and scalable.

What's next for OnlyGrass

We want to expand support to urban environments globally, including rooftop gardens and hidden pocket parks. Future versions may include real-time crowd and weather data, private group events, and gamified nature exploration. Our long-term vision is to build the leading platform for digital nature discovery — powered by AI, but grounded in real-world connection.