After being diagnosed with Bell's palsy, a senior developer advocate with machine learning and AI experience found himself struggling with sudden paralysis on the right side of his face. In a post shared online, Ali Mustufa described the experience as hitting 'rock bottom' and said he initially wondered how he would manage recovery. Instead of relying only on traditional tracking methods, Mustufa decided to build an AI-powered recovery app for himself. The tool uses facial tracking to guide rehabilitation exercises, monitor facial symmetry in real time and record day-to-day progress during recovery.
AI Recovery App Built Using Claude and OpenAI Codex
Mustufa, a senior developer advocate with machine learning and AI experience, rapidly built a mobile-first web application called 'Mirror' to support his Bell's palsy rehabilitation. The browser-based app uses the device camera as an interactive mirror for guided facial exercises and recovery tracking.
At the centre of the system is Google's MediaPipe Face Landmarker technology, which can detect hundreds of facial landmarks in real time directly inside the browser. The app first captures a neutral facial baseline before tracking movements during exercises such as eyebrow raises, smiling and eye closure. It then compares movement between the left and right sides of the face to generate real-time facial symmetry scores.
Mustufa said OpenAI Codex played a central role in building the app's core systems, including landmark processing, facial symmetry calculations, exercise logic and movement analysis. Meanwhile, Claude AI was used to generate UI components, layouts and the app's mobile-friendly interface. The system provides live visual feedback through overlays, percentage-based symmetry scores and progress indicators. Mustufa described the process as 'vibe-coding' the app during recovery to make his rehabilitation more structured, measurable and motivating.
Support from the Developer Community
The project quickly drew attention from developers and AI enthusiasts online. Many users praised Mustufa's response to the diagnosis and shared messages of encouragement. Others discussed their own experiences with Bell's palsy, physiotherapy and recovery timelines. The app has inspired conversations about using AI for personal health tracking and rehabilitation.
