SafeBand

Safety Shouldn’t Be a Privilege

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Inspiration

For millions of families around the world, especially women caregivers, this fear is constant. Dementia, autism, stroke, and cognitive impairments affect over 3.4 billion people globally, and disproportionately burden women, who make up over 75% of unpaid caregivers worldwide.

What if it were your grandma? Your mother? Or even... you?

Now imagine you're walking through a busy street, just a few steps ahead. You turn around and she’s gone. Your heart races. You scan the crowd. You call her name. Nothing. Five minutes feel like an hour. Panic creeps in.

Alone. Disoriented. No phone. No ID. And no one knows how to help your grandma, your mother, or you.

That single “what if” became the heartbeat of our mission.

We didn’t just build a product.

We built SafeBand—a small, wearable promise.

A promise that no one gets left behind.

A promise that safety isn't a luxury, but a right.

And most of all, a promise that next time, your story ends in peace, not in panic.

How SafeBand Works

SafeBand is more than a wristband—it's a seamless safety network built for individuals with cognitive conditions and the caregivers who support them.

Wear It

Each SafeBand device is designed with a specific need in mind:

  • SafeBand Touch uses only NFC for instant ID and emergency contact access.
  • SafeBand Track supports all features from SafeBand Touch, but this time we added real-time location tracking via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
  • SafeBand Sense (upcoming) contains all features of SafeBand Track, but we added enhanced safety of the patient with built-in Embedded AI-powered TensorFlow Lite fall detection.

Tap It

When a patient gets lost or missing, anyone with a smartphone can tap the wristband to access the user's basic information—no app required. For users that installed the SafeBand App, they will get notified if a patient is nearby and needs their help. This is when the caregiver of the patient reports the patient as missing via the app. Medical professionals and caregivers get secure access to detailed health data through permission-based tiers.

Track It

With BLE-powered tracking, SafeBand-enabled phones nearby automatically detect wristband signals,
helping to locate individuals when they wander or need help—powered by the SafeTrack Network.

Manage It

Using the SafeBand mobile app, caregivers can:

  • Set up and monitor multiple wristbands
  • Receive instant alerts when a band is scanned or a distress signal is triggered
  • Maintain updated profiles for each individual they care for

SafeBand connects care, safety, and identity—all in one wearable solution.
Accessible. Secure. Designed for real life.

How we built it

We developed a fully working MVP with the following components:

🔗 NFC-embedded smart wristband

🛡️ Data privacy and role-based permissions

Our multi-tier system ensures sensitive medical data is only accessible to verified clinics, while still allowing strangers to help safely.

Why It Matters

SafeBand directly supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by using inclusive, accessible technology to safeguard vulnerable populations—especially those with cognitive conditions.

  • Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being (Targets 3.4 & 3.8)
    SafeBand enhances health outcomes by providing immediate access to medical information in emergencies and enabling continuous, non-invasive monitoring—ensuring essential services are within reach when they matter most.

  • Goal 5: Gender Equality (Target 5.4)
    By easing the caregiving burden—disproportionately carried by women—SafeBand empowers female caregivers with tools for better care coordination and peace of mind, promoting shared responsibility within households and communities.

  • Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities (Target 10.2)
    Designed to be affordable and barrier-free, SafeBand ensures that even marginalized individuals with cognitive conditions can benefit from life-saving technologies, promoting their full social inclusion and safety regardless of background or ability.

    • Affordable at just ₱500 (~$9) per unit
    • Designed for low-connectivity areas (no internet required to scan)
    • Inclusive of a range for people with neurological conditions
    • Available in multiple languages to overcome literacy and accessibility gaps

We’re bridging the gap of inequalities in health access, data protection, and personal safety.

Challenges we ran into

Building SafeBand was more than coding, it was confronting the silent struggles of women and caregivers we often overlook. Our biggest challenge was creating a privacy-first solution that didn’t rely on invasive GPS tracking, costly devices, or constant internet, yet still worked in rural areas and emergencies.

We spent nights rethinking how NFC could be used beyond payments, and how to create a role-based system simple enough for anyone, from a grandma to a local official. Another major challenge? Designing something affordable, without compromising dignity, while also preparing for language barriers, offline use, and data safety. We weren’t just building for users, we were building for our communities and families.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • We transformed a ₱500 (max estimated cost) NFC wristband into a life-saving companion for caregivers and people with dementia, autism, or disabilities.
    • We made tech feel human with a UI design that is warm, accessible, and gender-inclusive, with love built into every line of code.
    • We crafted a full working prototype day til night during the hackathon: working NFC tags, android-app dashboard with CRUD functionality, encryption for privacy, and multi-role logins.

What we learned

  • That tech doesn’t need to be complex to change lives—it just needs to be deeply rooted in empathy.
    • Women, youth, and caregivers are full of silent resilience, and they deserve tools that don’t speak down to them but amplify them.
    • We learned the power of interdisciplinary thinking—mixing our tech skills with public health, gender advocacy, and design.
    • Until we learned that even a small team can dream big, move fast, and prototype impact if the mission is clear.

What's next for SafeBand

We’re turning SafeBand into a community-first movement.

  • We’ll collaborate with local governments, NGOs, and youth councils to run pilot programs in underserved areas.
  • We plan to open-source the dashboard, so schools and clinics can customize it to local needs.
  • We're working on adding voice support and multi-language prompts for better inclusivity.
  • And we’re applying for grants to distribute SafeBands to 1,000 caregivers across Southeast Asia by the end of the year.

But most of all, we want SafeBand to become more than a hackathon project; we want it to become a symbol of care, powered by young innovators, and worn with pride by those who give care every day.

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