NEW YORK: Indian grad student and researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Manisha Mohan has invented a wearable adhesive that can help prevent rape and sexual assault. Intrepid, an adhesive made up of a couple of conductive layers and hydrogel that can be stuck on to a woman's underwear or bra will detect if it is being moved forcibly.
It works in both, passive and active modes. In the former, where the user and conscious and alert, the device which can be tapped to set off a Bluetooth signal which is sent to the user's phone, will trigger a loud noise to alert people nearby and send out distress signals to pre-defined family members or emergency services in the form of an alarm and a text message and a recorded phone call if the user does not respond within 30 seconds. Actively, when a woman is unconscious and not in a position to fight, is bed-ridden, elderly, disabled, a minor, or intoxicated, if somebody is trying to remove clothing forcibly, a message is sent to their phone to confirm if the act was done with or without consent and an alert will be sent out to someone.
Mohan and her team conducted a survey 338 sexual assault survivors on various factors like design, functionality, and cultural sensitivity. “Our work examines methods to prevent sexual assault, from pre-historic times to latest technologies, to inform contemporary designs. Intrepid investigates multiple methods to detect initial signs of assault and develop methods for communication and prevention of assault. We also explore olfactory stimuli as a potential means to prevent sexual assault in real-time,” Mohan said.
She said she hopes this will help women in India so that they feel safe when walking at night and don't have to reach home before dark.
