SafeSteps

Login Page
Path to Destination, along with locations of Help Phones
Settings page with extra functionalities
Maps for Navigation

Inspiration:

Our project was born from a deeply personal experience. One day around midnight, we received a call from our friend near Isenberg – she was being followed by a stranger. We immediately went to her location and safely walked her back home. This incident made us realize that despite existing safety measures on campus, students still face moments of vulnerability, especially during late hours. While UMass has HELP phones installed across campus, there wasn't an easy way to locate them quickly in emergency situations or share real-time location with trusted friends. This is how we came up with the idea of SafeSteps.

What it does:

SafeSteps is a cross platform mobile app that transforms campus safety into a dynamic, accessible tool by-

Mapping all HELP phones across campus with real-time directions
Enabling live location sharing with friends and campus security
Providing a one-tap emergency button for immediate police contact
Suggesting safe routes with well-lit paths and nearby HELP phones
Offering a virtual escort feature that connects to UMass Security

How we built it:

We built SafeSteps using Flutter for cross-platform compatibility, integrating-

Google Maps API for location services and navigation
Firebase for real-time location sharing and user authentication
Custom markers to display HELP phone locations
URL launcher for direct emergency calls
Material Design for an intuitive, clean interface

Challenges we ran into:

Implementing accurate real-time location tracking
Creating a responsive UI that is simple enough to understand in emergency, but clean enough to look professional
Handling permissions for location services and phone calls
Optimising the app's performance with numerous map markers
Ensuring reliability of emergency features

Accomplishments that we're proud of:

Developed and deployed a fully functional safety companion app on both Android and IOS in less than 32 hours
Successfully mapped all UMass HELP phone locations with accurate coordinates
Created an intuitive interface that can be used easily in stressful situations
Implemented reliable emergency calling and location sharing features
Successfully showing paths with high number of HELP phones without sacrificing duration of travel
Built a solution that addresses a real safety concern in our community

What we learned:

Advanced Google Maps API integration in Flutter
Real-time location tracking implementation
Importance of user-centric design in emergency applications
Handling device permissions and system features -Collaborative problem-solving under time constraints