Indian Scientist at MIT Invented a Sensor to Stop Rape

For years our society is infected with this social disease. Rape or sexual assault is nothing more than a social disease in order to remove this from the root I believe we need to bring a change in our mentality. I believe technology has its own role to play in every aspect so here is another example. I don’t know whether it can bring the change but it is a start. Indian scientist at MIT creates a sticker that sends distress signals to stop sexual assault.

Manisha Mohan, an Indian scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has developed a sticker-like wearable sensor that can detect sexual assault in real time and quickly alert nearby people as well as the victim’s friends and family and emergency services of the assault.

It can be attached to any piece of clothing like a sticker, could be trained to learn the difference between when a person is undressing and when they are being forcefully disrobed, Manisha Mohan, a research assistant at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, told PTI.

The sensor can detect signs of an assault even when the victim is unconscious or not in the position to fight against the assaulter, such as in the case of minors.

An integrated Bluetooth connected to a smartphone With the help of an accompanying app, it can send an SOS to up to five contacts in case of emergency.

The sensor has two modes. In the passive mode where the victim can self-actuate the safety mechanism. In the active mode, the sensor tries to detect signals from the external environment. For example, if somebody is trying to remove the clothing of the victim’s body, a message is sent to the smartphone to confirm if the act was done with consent.

If the victim does not respond within 30 seconds, the phone begins to produce a loud noise to alert nearby people.If the victim does not stop this alarm using a predefined password within the next 20 seconds, the smartphone app can send distress signals to family or friends, along with the location of the victim automatically.

Mohan’s experience as an engineering student in Chennai inspired her to create the device.