Winning Hack-O-Mania 2025: Our Journey with ProDIGI

Meet the Team

We are a team of passionate innovators from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, each bringing a unique set of skills to the table:

• Amos – Backend and API Dev
• Ian – Frontend Dev
• Pranav – AI Dev

Despite our different backgrounds, our shared love for technology and problem-solving brought us together to tackle the Interledger Foundation Challenge: Quitting Addictions Together at Hack-O-Mania 2025.

Hackathon Experience

Hackathons are fast-paced, intense, and exhilarating—and we thrive on the challenge! The thrill of ideating, building, and presenting a functional product within 24 hours is what drives us to join hackathons. Though the experience is physically and mentally draining, the satisfaction of creating something impactful in such a short time makes it all worthwhile.

Choosing the Interledger Challenge

We were drawn to the Interledger Challenge because it was an area we hadn’t explored before. Finance, Web3, and blockchain-based transactions were relatively new to us, and we saw this as a great opportunity to expand our knowledge while solving an important issue—digital addiction.

The Problem We Tackled

Digital addiction is a growing concern, especially among students and professionals who struggle with focus due to constant distractions from social media and other digital platforms. We wanted to build a solution that not only minimizes distractions but also encourages users to spend their time productively.

Our Solution: Prodigi

How It Works Prodigi is an AI-powered productivity platform designed to help users overcome digital distractions and stay focused on their learning goals.

Key Features:

• Goal-Based Learning – Users select what they want to learn (e.g., Python, mathematics).
• AI-Driven Content Filtering – A pre-prompted Llama model monitors users' online activity, allowing only goal-related content.
• Real-Time Web Scraping checks the websites and videos users access, filtering out unrelated content.
• Interledger-Powered Rewards – Users earn monetary incentives for staying focused. Donations from sponsors fund the rewards system.
• Pods - Community Support & Competition – Users join goal-based Pods, where they track each other’s progress, encourage accountability, and see who’s earning the most rewards.

Tech Stack:

• AI Model – Llama for content filtering
• Web Scraper – Crawl4AI
• Blockchain Transactions – Interledger API
• Frontend & Backend – Typescript, ReactJS, NextJS, NodeJS

The Pitch Experience

Before our final pitch, we had the opportunity to present our idea to fellow participants. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with many praising the uniqueness of monetizing productivity through Web3 as well as the dynamic AI content blocking feature.

When it was time to face the judges, we felt confident and excited. The judges were highly engaged, laughing at our jokes and asking insightful questions about our integration with Interledger technology. The experience was both nerve-wracking and rewarding, especially when we saw the judges’ genuine interest in our solution.

Mentorship Experience

One of the highlights of this hackathon was the mentorship provided by Interledger Foundation experts. A massive shoutout to Alex Lakatos, Ioana Chiorean, and Dragos Palade for their support throughout the competition. Dragos was an absolute legend, helping us debug through the night when we ran into API issues—we couldn’t have done it without him!

What’s Next for Prodigi?

Winning 1st place and $1,000 was a fantastic achievement, but we’re not stopping here. We see huge potential for Prodigi to become a widely used productivity tool.

• Enhancing AI Content Filtering – Fine-tuning Llama’s detection to better differentiate between productive and distracting content.
• Building a Chrome Extension – To integrate Prodigi seamlessly with browsers.
• Developing Mobile Support – Extending functionality to smartphones for complete focus management.