Researchers from MIT have developed a new wearable device which aims at putting an end to sexual assault in real-time. They have created smart stickers that are capable of sensing when a person is being sexually assaulted. It can be attached to under garments and whenever there is some forceful attack, it will start buzzing aloud.
Along with the buzzing sound, it will quickly tell your phone to send a distress signal. One of five emergency contacts will be receive a call wherein they can hear and record the noises while the contacts will also be sent texts with the exact location.
Intrepid, the firm that's building the product believes that this will help combat Child Sexual Abuse (CSA), College Campus assault and abuse of elderly and disabled.
It will work in active as well as passive mode. The latter means in the case of infants, bed-ridden patients, elderly, disabled, intoxicated people and so on. In the active mode the victim can activate it with a small button. The distress signal is aimed at preventing the assault in real-time.
"Our clothing design is based on input from sexual assault survivors, 338 on-line participants, 67 volunteers and 20 users who helped us understand the real world feasibility of our system," the MIT page reads. "Our clothing design is based on input from sexual assault survivors, 338 on-line participants, 67 volunteers and 20 users who helped us understand the real world feasibility of our system," the report adds.
Manisha Mohan, a researcher in MIT Media Lab who also talks about her experience in Chennai, India explains how the smart sticker works in the video below: