Soteria

Inspiration

As a dancer, I learned at a young age ways to defend myself against predators when at competitions and just walking in my costume. I was taught to have a fake name just in case they kept pushing, to walk with my keys between my fingers just in case, and to fake phone calls to ward of any unwanted advances. As a teenager now, I have to have 911 ready to call on my phone and keys in my hand ready to attack when walking in parking lots to my car as I am afraid that I am going to be attacked. Especially during this time of the #metoo movement, women are now gaining a voice to fight against their attackers; Soteria is a tool for all people to protect themselves in a time they feel alone and show them that they are not alone.

What it does

Whenever the app is open, users are given a series of questions to evaluate the level of danger they are in. Questions like “what restaurant should we eat at?” stimulate real conversations, but the answers are linked to responses like calling the police or a certain contact. This app is designed for anyone who feel unsafe, whether it be walking at night to their car or on a bus trying to reject unwanted advances. By providing a discreet way to notify authorities or simply to have someone to talk to to ward of potential attackers, Sotoria aims to help those who feel alone.

How we built it

We used python to form the chatbot and android studio to form the physical representation for the app.

Challenges we ran into

We were unable to convert our python code for the chatbot into java or kotlin, so we were unable to fully implement the chatbot into the android studio.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

This is our first time coding, so being able to create a basic chatbot on the same day we learned python and android studio, it was an amazing accomplishment that we both felt an immense sense of pride for.

What we learned

We learned how to use python and android user, as we were beginner programmers.

What's next for Soteria

Soteria can use AI to create more realistic conversations that can last longer and have more responses. AI voice can also be used to stimulate phone conversations, so women can give their attackers

Built With

• python-android-studio-java