WalkWise

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Inspiration

Walking alone at night can feel unsafe, and recent crime trends at Rutgers make this concern even more urgent. Last term, there were 11 crime alerts in just two months—the same number reported in the entire previous year. This surge inspired us to develop WalkWise, an AI-powered security companion that helps users feel safer. Studies show that people are less likely to be harmed when on a call, so WalkWise acts as a virtual companion, monitoring real-time voice and video signals to detect distress and automatically alert security when needed.

What It Does

WalkWise is an AI-driven personal safety app that listens and watches for danger. With real-time voice and video recognition, it detects distress signals and alerts security if a user is in trouble. Whether you’re walking home late at night or navigating an unfamiliar area, WalkWise ensures help is always just a word—or a movement—away.

How We Built It

We developed WalkWise using:

Flask for the backend, processing AI-driven voice and video analysis.
React Native & JavaScript for a seamless mobile experience on both iOS and Android.
OpenAI Whisper for real-time speech transcription.
Twilio for emergency SMS alerts.
MongoDB to store user data securely and efficiently.

Challenges We Ran Into

iOS microphone and camera integration was a major hurdle, requiring workarounds to ensure seamless recording.
Real-time AI processing demanded optimization to run efficiently on mobile devices.
Building an intuitive user experience that provides security without being intrusive.

Accomplishments We’re Proud Of

Successfully implementing voice-to-text and text-to-voice recognition for real-time safety monitoring.
Developing a working AI-powered detection system that can identify distress signals.
Creating an intuitive and user-friendly app that ensures security without adding complexity.
Balancing privacy, security, and ease of use to make WalkWise accessible to all users.

What We Learned

Time management & better planning—tackling an ambitious project in a short time pushed us to work efficiently.
React Native development—our first experience building a cross-platform mobile app.
MongoDB & backend optimization—ensuring smooth data handling for future scalability.

What’s Next for WalkWise

Expanding to more campuses, bringing safety to students nationwide.
Video-based recognition to enhance threat detection beyond voice signals.
Robust crime mapping using a dynamic database to highlight high-risk areas.
Scaling up the app to integrate with campus security systems and local law enforcement.

WalkWise is more than an app—it’s a movement to make every community safer, one step at a time. 🚶‍♀️🔒