Entrepreneurialism: Students at the University of Washington create wristband to prevent sexual assault
The transdermal alcohol sensor and dehydration sensor will monitor the wearers’ levels throughout the night and will occasionally vibrate to check in and make sure they are conscious and adequately in control.
Vive is currently a non-working prototype but the group has been approached by many interested investors looking to make the wristband a reality.
Six students from the University of Washington (UW) created a wristband designed to prevent sexual assault in “high-risk, alcohol fueled social situation” by connecting wearers through a Bluetooth network.
Wearers are encouraged to activate their Vive wristbands before entering a bar, or similar social scene, where they will then join other Vive wearers in the room via Bluetooth. The transdermal alcohol sensor and dehydration sensor will monitor the wearers’ levels throughout the night and will occasionally vibrate to check in and make sure they are conscious and adequately in control.
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Upon feeling the Vive’s vibrations, the wearer must squeeze the wristband to make it stop. If the wearer does not provide a responsive squeeze, other Vives connected to the network will receive stronger vibrations, alerting users that somebody in the room may be in trouble. The troubled student can be located by fellow Vive users through the device’s GPS and Wi-Fi triangulation system.
The wristband is also able to detect changes in the wearer’s movement, including falling or passing out through its gyroscope accelerometer.
Vive started as a class project, but soon went on to win “Best Product Concept” at the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit and Design Expo 2014.
The students involved worked with UW Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Activists and found that alcohol was a key component to sexual assault cases on campuses. It was then that the team realized their niche and aimed to create a device to help keep students safe.
The team is still tweaking the timing of the vibrations so Vive will dispense them more readily the drunker the wearer gets. As of now, vibrations come in 20 minute increments.
Vive is currently a non-working prototype, but since the success at the Microsoft Summit, the group has been approached by many interested investors looking to make the wristband a reality.
Via The Daily.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @MaggieLitCRO
