Grass Gate: my feeds only unlock after an open-weight model sees me outside

Description and use

Grass Gate limits endless feed scrolling by requiring users to complete a short outdoor quest verified by an on‑device vision model before unlocking sites for 30 minutes.

Problem

Users lose hours scrolling feeds before realizing they should be outside.

Outcome

Grass Gate limits doomscrolling by requiring users to complete a short outdoor quest verified by an on‑device vision model before unlocking feeds for a limited time.

Workflow

• Block feed sites with a Chrome Manifest V3 extension
• Open Grass Gate PWA on phone and request a quest
• App selects a nearby real place from OpenStreetMap and provides walking directions
• User walks to the location and takes a photo
• On-device CLIP ViT‑B/32 model checks photo for outdoors and target (e.g., water)
• If checks pass, app generates a one‑time 6‑digit code
• User enters code on blocked page to unlock feeds for 30 minutes

Evidence

Grass Gate is a doomscroll lock that only opens outdoors.

Source

An open-weight vision model running on the phone checks two things: am I actually outdoors, and is that actually water?

Source

The app works on its own: quests, the on-device photo check, the journal, streaks and stamps.

Source