Inspiration
SousSafe was created for a Valentine’s Day hackathon where we chose to redefine love as safety rather than romance. We recognized that for many victims of domestic violence, home is not always safe, and access to a phone during escalating situations is not guaranteed. This inspired us to design protection hidden inside something ordinary — a kitchen gadget paired with a legitimate-looking application. By embedding safety into a familiar household device, we aimed to create discreet protection that does not draw suspicion.
What it does
SousSafe is a smart kitchen gadget paired with a companion web application. The device is intentionally designed to resemble a normal countertop cooking assistant while embedding a covert safety system. The physical unit includes a digital timer display, rotary knob, start/stop button, buzzer, touch sensor, and proximity sensor with LED activation. The companion application presents a legitimate kitchen interface, allowing the device to appear as an ordinary smart cooking assistant while also managing configuration and alert routing in the background.
Its primary feature is a protected internal countdown system. If a user senses that a situation may escalate within a configurable 15-minute window, they activate emergency mode by triple-clicking the start button. This triggers a silent, internal countdown that is not displayed on the screen. If the user does not triple-click the stop button before expiration, the system automatically sends an alert through the configured notification pathway. If trusted contacts have been set up in the application, AWS SNS routes notifications to those individuals; otherwise, the system is designed to default to authorities in future implementations.
The second feature is a pre-configured check-in system that is set up through the application. After standing within proximity of the device for 15 seconds, users can discreetly communicate their status using the hidden touch sensor — which in future iterations will be seamlessly embedded within the device’s outer casing to make it completely indistinguishable from a standard kitchen surface control. Three taps indicate unsafe conditions, while holding for five seconds indicates safety. These inputs are securely transmitted to the backend as status updates.
How we built it
SousSafe integrates IoT hardware with a cloud-based backend system. The device uses embedded components and sensors to detect user input and environmental conditions. The companion application presents a legitimate kitchen interface while a Flask backend processes proximity data to compute a dynamic risk score. AWS SNS handles secure alert routing. By combining discreet hardware interactions with backend intelligence, we created a seamless connection between a physical device and a responsive safety network.
Challenges we ran into
Our biggest challenge was balancing concealment with reliability. The device needed to look completely believable as a kitchen appliance while still functioning as a dependable safety system. We carefully designed activation logic to avoid accidental triggers and calibrated sensor thresholds to reduce false positives, all while considering ethical responsibility.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We successfully built a working prototype that integrates hardware, backend processing, and cloud-based notifications into a cohesive system. We are especially proud of embedding a covert safety mechanism into a realistic, non-suspicious household device without compromising functionality.
What we learned
Through SousSafe, we learned how to integrate embedded systems with cloud infrastructure while designing for discretion and real-world constraints. We also gained a deeper understanding of the ethical responsibility required when building technology intended to support vulnerable populations.
What's next for SousSafe
Currently, alerts are routed through the application to trusted contacts. Our next step is implementing direct signaling to authorities for users who do not have phone access. We also plan to refine risk scoring calibration, strengthen secure communication, and integrate the hardware into a more aesthetically refined and fully enclosed casing to create a polished, consumer-ready device.
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