NailMentor by IND Academy

# NailMentor by IND Academy NailMentor is an AI-powered visual feedback system designed to support practical skill development in professional nail education. It goes beyond general image descriptions by analyzing individual fingernail regions and connecting visible technical details to structured observations, visual indicators, and actionable learning recommendations. The idea originates from a real challenge in IND Academy's online education programs. Students regularly submit photos and videos of their practical work for individual review by an experienced instructor. As participation grows, reviewing every submission in detail increases the instructor's workload and can delay feedback. Students need more than general comments: they need to understand what they are doing well, what requires improvement, and how to apply corrections in future assignments. NailMentor is a new product initiative designed to support this process. Our vision is to integrate the same product and assessment workflow into both IND Academy platforms: ImproveNailDesign.com for Bulgarian-speaking students and ImproveNailAcademy.com for international students in English, with the functionality adapted to each language. It is also being developed as a standalone application, with potential applications beyond IND Academy. The working prototype allows users to upload a photo of their nail work and select a feedback level and area of focus, such as nail shape and length, symmetry and consistency, cuticle condition and cleanliness, or product application and finish. Meta SAM 3.1 segments individual fingernail regions, while Muse Spark analyzes the original image and extracted nail crops. The results connect observations, visual indicators, and individual nail statuses to the corresponding image regions, helping students identify strengths and areas for improvement. The prototype has undergone hands-on review by Tanya Angelova Zheleva, founder and lead nail instructor at IND Academy. Initial internal testing showed approximately 90% alignment with her professional evaluation. This is a preliminary internal observation, not an independent or statistically established accuracy benchmark. Further development will focus on more detailed assessment criteria, domain-specific evaluation rules, and continued expert validation. NailMentor is designed to complement professional instruction, not replace the instructor's judgment, practical teaching, or formal qualification assessment. In the intended learning-platform workflow, instructors remain responsible for reviewing and validating AI-generated observations before providing students with final individual guidance. Built on IND Academy's 18 years of experience in the nail industry, NailMentor combines professional domain knowledge with Meta's multimodal AI capabilities. It has the potential to benefit students, instructors, and professional training academies in both Bulgarian- and English-speaking markets.