Safety Blanket

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  Home screen & chat

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  Timer

Inspiration

Imagine feeling a knot of anxiety every time you walk alone after dark, even in your own neighborhood. Unfortunately, this is a reality for many women today. One in two women feel unsafe walking alone after dark in a quiet street near their home, compared to just one in seven men. This fear is pronounced in busier areas—in parks or open spaces, the figure jumps to a staggering four out of five.

The statistics are even more alarming for younger women: two out of three women aged 16 to 34 have experienced harassment in the past year. These numbers reveal a pervasive problem: a profound lack of security that impacts daily lives. Women often turn to friends or family for check-ins or to stay on the phone while they navigate potentially dangerous situations. But what happens when no one is available?

That's where Safety Blanket comes in. Our app isn’t just another safety tool; it’s a lifeline that provides emotional security and peace of mind. Safety Blanket is designed to be your virtual AI companion, offering comfort, protection, and a reliable solution to the ever-present threat of feeling unsafe, without having to rely on those around you to continually monitor your safety.

What it does

Welcome to Safety Blanket, your ultimate virtual friend designed to ensure your safety and provide companionship. Our app revolutionizes personal security by offering key features that cater to your needs, ensuring peace of mind in potentially unsafe situations.

The standout feature of Safety Blanket is the AI Companion, which engages in real-time phone calls to provide comfort and reduce anxiety. This conversational AI offers a reassuring presence whenever you need it, making it a powerful tool for immediate emotional support.

In addition to phone calls, Safety Blanket offers real-time text chat check-ins within the app. The AI periodically checks in on you, and if you fail to respond, it escalates the situation by sharing your real-time location with trusted contacts. This ensures you maintain a constant connection and adds an extra layer of security.

Lastly, the Safety Timer feature allows you to set a timer when entering potentially unsafe situations. If the timer expires without being deactivated using a custom password, the AI automatically triggers emergency protocols, alerting your emergency contacts and providing your location and situation details.

Each of these features is designed to offer comprehensive protection, combining emotional reassurance with practical safety measures whenever you need them.

How we built it

For the development of Safety Blanket, we employed a robust tech stack to ensure the app is reliable, responsive, and secure.

Backend Development:

• FastAPI: Framework for building the backend API
• Web sockets: For real-time communication between the app and the backend
• Firebase: For cloud services including real-time data user processing, storage, and security
• OpenAI API: For creating and training the AI text companion and handling natural language processing
• Retell AI: Voice call agent deployment
• Langchain: Large language models to process user responses
• Twilio: For SMS and voice communication, enabling check-ins, alerts, and emergency calls
• Google Maps API: For real-time location sharing and route monitoring

Frontend Development:

• Next.js: For building a progressive web app that adapts to mobile users
• Tailwindcss: Framework for styling
• Figma: For frontend design and planning

By integrating these technologies, Safety Blanket provides a seamless and reliable experience for users, ensuring their safety and peace of mind wherever they go.

Challenges we ran into

Initially, our team divided the product development tasks, each member focusing on areas where they had the most experience or interest. This seemed like a productive approach at the start. However, when we regrouped after several hours, we encountered significant inconsistencies in how each part of the app was implemented. The process of merging all these components into a unified product proved to be the most challenging part of our hackathon experience.

Another significant challenge was harmonizing our individual strengths and weaknesses. Since our team had not collaborated before, we had to navigate and piece together our varying skills and approaches. This required a lot of adjustments and learning to work effectively as a cohesive team. Despite these challenges, the experience was invaluable in helping us grow as a team and produce a functioning product.

Accomplishments we’re proud of

Our team is incredibly proud of what we accomplished during this hackathon. From the initial brainstorming sessions to the implementation of each feature, our journey was both challenging and rewarding.

One of our biggest achievements was integrating our individual contributions into a cohesive and functional app. Despite the difficulties we faced, particularly in integrating the frontend with the backend and ensuring a consistent design across devices, we managed to overcome these obstacles through teamwork and perseverance.

We also leveraged our diverse skills to bring Safety Blanket to life. Each team member contributed unique strengths, enabling us to find innovative solutions that enhanced our app. Notable milestones included developing the AI companion, setting up real-time location sharing, and implementing emergency protocols. Watching these features work seamlessly was a testament to our dedication and creativity.

Working together for the first time and successfully navigating our different approaches was an adventure. The process of brainstorming and problem-solving was enjoyable, and seeing our ideas materialize into a functional app was incredibly rewarding. Not only did we create something that addresses a critical need for personal safety, but we also formed a strong bonds with each other that will benefit us in future projects.

What’s next for Safety Blanket

We aim to continue enhancing Safety Blanket by incorporating user feedback and adding more advanced features. Potential developments include:

• Integration with wearable devices to offer more discreet and immediate access to safety features.
• Enhanced AI capabilities for better natural language understanding and more personalized interactions.
• Broader emergency services integration to include international support and additional local services.

Safety Blanket is committed to evolving and improving to meet the safety needs of women around the world, providing them with the confidence and peace of mind they deserve.

Built With

• fastapi
• firebase
• langchain
• nextjs
• openai
• retell
• tailwindcss
• twilio
• websockets