Inspiration
University environments are rampant with alcoholism due to a combination of peer pressure and students not knowing their limits. Many college students are binge drinkers, and this results in a large health epidemic among college students.
What it does
Our app uses a Fitbit Ionic's heart beat sensor and accelerometer to monitor the user and detect sharp pulse decreases since alcohol slows your pulse slowly as it metabolizes. When a drop is detected, a predesignated emergency contact is texted the user's location along with an urgent message to check on them.
How we built it
We used a combination of Fitbit Studio and React Native. The Fitbit app outputs sensor data that it polls to a web app that processes the inputs. This web app allows the user the enter their name and a phone number beforehand to use to text their emergency contact.
Challenges we ran into
Our biggest challenge was communicating between the Fitbit and other devices since the company is very restrictive with how we can use the data from the Fitbit. We also had issues with the algorithm to determine whether to text the contact. Alcohol's effect on heart rate is very complex, and everyone's heart behaves differently. We solved this issue by cross-referencing the current heart rate and past few data points with the initial data points upon launch. We also wrote an algorithm reflecting research on what BAC causes the heart rate to finally drop (pulse increases slightly before dropping as alcohol is metabolised).
Accomplishments that we're proud of and what we learned.
Most of the group had never used JavaScript before, let alone React Native, and none of us has owned or programmed for a Fitbit. We quickly adapted to these new languages and figured out how to communicate with them. All of us have primarily a C background, so we're very proud of making an app that does a lot of front end work.
What's next for Fitbit Alcohol Safety App
Newer wearables in the future will have even more sensors available, such as a blood pressure sensor. Additionally, there's a prototype of a watch being developed called Skyn that measures BAC from skin molecules. Our app could be integrated with this hardware once it is publicly available. Closer to the near future, we could add Uber integration.
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