NEURORA

Neurora uses mandala art and AI to detect early signs of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, while delivering gentle, personalized creative therapy for aging mind with dignity.

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Inspiration

Neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s don’t just take memory or motor control, they quietly erode identity, dignity, and human connection. We were inspired by a simple question: what if early care felt creative, calming, and human instead of clinical and late?

Art, especially mandala drawing, has been used for centuries for focus, healing, and self-expression. We believed it could also become a gentle window into brain health.

What it does

NEURORA is an iPad app that uses mandala art and AI to help detect early cognitive and motor changes associated with conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, while providing personalized creative therapy.

Users draw, trace, or color mandalas using Apple Pencil. From these interactions, NEURORA analyzes subtle signals—such as tremor patterns, stroke stability, symmetry, timing, and attention—and turns them into:

  • A NeuroHeART Score tracking cognitive and motor wellness over time
  • Immediate, gentle feedback
  • Personalized mandala-based creative exercises designed to support brain health
  • All insights are framed as wellness signals, not medical diagnoses.

How we built it

  • Frontend: iPadOS app built with SwiftUI + PencilKit, optimized for Apple Pencil
  • Creative layer: Curated mandala templates for tracing, coloring, and free creation
  • Signal capture: High-resolution stroke telemetry (pressure, timing, motion, pauses)
  • AI pipeline: Feature extraction and ML models analyzing motor stability, visuospatial consistency, and processing rhythm
  • Backend: Secure API for session ingestion, analysis, and longitudinal trend tracking
  • Privacy-first design: Explicit consent, minimal data storage, and local processing for instant feedback

Challenges we ran into

  • Translating expressive art into quantifiable, explainable signals without losing its emotional value
  • Designing feedback that is supportive and non-clinical, avoiding fear or stigma
  • Balancing scientific rigor with an interface accessible to elderly users
  • Ensuring privacy while enabling meaningful longitudinal insights

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • Turning mandala art into a measurable, AI-interpretable cognitive signal
  • Building an experience that feels calming and dignified, not medical or intimidating
  • Delivering real-time feedback directly on the iPad
  • Creating a concept that is simultaneously artistic, research-driven, and startup-ready
  • Designing for families, caregivers, and clinicians—without excluding everyday users

What we learned

  • Creativity can reveal patterns traditional tests miss Elder-friendly design requires clarity, patience, and emotional intelligence
  • Explainability matters as much as accuracy in health-adjacent AI
  • Art is not just expression, it can be a powerful interface for human-centered technology

What's next for NEURORA

  • Clinical pilot studies with neurologists and art therapists
  • Expanded mandala libraries tailored to different cognitive exercises
  • Family and caregiver dashboards with consent-based insights
  • Longitudinal AI models personalized to each user’s baseline
  • Path toward a reimbursable digital therapeutic and a scalable startup platform

NEURORA’s mission is simple: to turn creativity into care, and give aging minds a gentler, earlier path to support.

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