Beacon

Overview
Emergency Contacts
Reports
Report Map
BeaconAI

Inspiration

We wanted to make delivery and rideshare work safer. Workers visit many unfamiliar places and may not know if an area has had safety problems before. We created Beacon to help workers check in, get warnings, and share useful safety information.

What it does

Beacon lets workers start a timed safety check-in by entering their address, platform, and session length. It can warn them if the location may be near a reported danger. Workers can also use an SOS button, view emergency contacts, use a map, and submit hazard reports. After a worker finishes a check-in, they can write an optional note. Gemini turns the note into a draft report, but the worker must review and approve it before it is added to the report list.

How we built it

We built Beacon with Svelte and SvelteKit. We created separate components for the check-in, SOS button, contacts, map, hazard reports, and report list. We connected Gemini through a server-side API so the API key stays private. The app also records the platform, date, and time for each report.

Challenges we ran into

One challenge was making sure the worker could finish a check-in even if the AI was unavailable. We also had to handle Gemini errors and model availability. Another challenge was making sure AI-generated reports could not be published without the worker’s approval. We also had to combine our features with the changes and designs made by each other, (a lot of resolving merge conflicts).

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that Beacon became a complete safety tool instead of just one feature. It includes check-ins, AI assistance, hazard reports, an SOS button, emergency contacts, and a map.

What we learned

We learned how to build an interactive app with Svelte and SvelteKit. We learned how to connect an app to the Gemini API and handle errors when an API is unavailable. We also learned that AI should support people while allowing people to make the final decisions.

What's next for Beacon

We want to improve location checking so warnings are based on real distance. In the future we really want Beacon to expand to be a mobile app for easier use.