Helping Hands

The Helping Hands Application will solve the problem of being able to get a message quickly sent to family with your exact location when you are in need of help. Helping Hands will be a useful tool for people of all ages. Helping Hands is simple to use, so anyone, or any kid, will be able to use it with ease in his or her time of need. The inspiration for Helping Hands came after being stranded on the side of the road for eight hours. To begin with, we were unsure of our exact location, which caused confusion. We tried everything except “911” to get help. A police officer from Martinsville stopped by to help right as the help that was being waited on for eight hours finally arrived. The police officer met with my mother and me at the next stop to speak about our predicament. He told us that we should have called “911”. We did not feel that we were in enough danger to call. The officer informed us that most “regular” people who are in life threating situations do not call “911” when they should. That is when things can get really bad and help is not there or even on the way. That got me to thinking about how people could get help and advice from family or friends who could advise them and know exactly where they are. That was the beginning of the Helping Hands Application. Was there a way for me to create an application? Was there a program that schools were using to teach how to create an application? I did not know how to program computers or web sites. Even if a program was found, would I be able to manipulate the data into an actual application that could then be uploaded onto Google Play? During the research stage, many websites were visited to insure the originality of this app. Did an app like the one I wanted to create already exist? I learned a lot about emergency apps during my research. I discovered Helping Hands is original because it does not have operators standing by and it is not only for guys, girls, or just kids, it is for all to use. Many other apps also have features you can operate by yourself, but in serious conditions, you need help from friends, and that is where Helping Hands out shines the rest. After proving an app like Helping Hands did not already exist on Google Play, I needed to locate a program to create it. I envisioned Helping Hands would have two boxes at the bottom where you insert the numbers of your contacts phone numbers. At the bottom there will also be a button that you push to save your contacts’ numbers. So whenever you decide to send a message, just press the big HELP button and your message, I need help at…, will be sent to the contacts of your choice. With this message it will also send your latitude longitude and even your address (if you’re at a building) through Google Maps. To create this app I used MIT App Inventor 2. To help me learn the program, I met with Karl Henson, who is a technology teacher at Forest Park High School. He introduced me to the program and taught me the basics. Also, as extra help, Mr. Henson showed me the tutorials that I could do as practice before I created my app. This helped me greatly in getting to learn the program. When I became stuck trying to add the location feature of the application, Ryan Schuetter, a computer programmer, was asked to help teach me more about programming so as to understand what all of the locator variables meant and how to choose the right block to get the location feature working. My greater understanding of programming, helped with the understanding of the many elements App Inventor 2 has to offer application developers. Helping Hands is a marketable app because it is inexpensive and simple to use. This application can be used before calling “911” to get help and advice from your friends and family who may be able to call “911” for you if you are hurt or unable to speak. It is important to have applications that will help you when you may not be able to make informed decisions and send out your location with just the touch of a button.

Built With

• android
• mit-app-inventor