SafeWalk AI

Our Inspiration ✨

We wanted to create a simple, hands-free way for USF students to feel safer when they're walking alone. Sometimes, just having a conversation partner can make a difference, but we also needed a silent way to call for help if things felt unsafe.

What It Does 🗣️📍

SafeWalk acts as a friendly, conversational AI companion that talks with you during your walk, giving you comfort and presence. If you ever feel in danger, you just need to discreetly say a secret codeword (like "Red Apple") out loud during the conversation. The app instantly switches to an Emergency Alert screen, capturing and displaying your real-time GPS location on a map, ready to be sent to simulated authorities.

How We Built It 💻🛠️

We used React and JavaScript (with TypeScript and Vite) for the sleek, low-light-friendly frontend, and we powered the conversational AI using the Vapi API, which integrates with services like OpenAI and 11Labs. We used Python for the backend. We actually hit a snag early on: we first tried to build it with React Native, but we discovered that the voice AI didn't work reliably for mobile. Instead of stopping, we pivoted to a standard React web application and got everything working great!

What We Learned 💡🔄

Our biggest takeaway was about being flexible and not giving up when technology throws a curveball. When React Native didn't work for the voice features, we learned that switching to a more compatible React web view was the key to successfully integrating the advanced voice AI we wanted to use.

We are submitting to Track 1 (Tech for Good / USF Themed) and Track 2 (AI Innovation / Everyday AI)

Thank you for viewing our project and giving us a chance to participate in HackJam 2025!

Built With

• elevenlabs
• gemini-2.5
• javascript
• python
• react
• typescript
• vapi