Ditto

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Inspiration

Every minute, around 32 people in the U.S experience domestic violence, and annually 16 million victims. Domestic violence and abuse are often hidden dangers, silently endured by victims who struggle to reach out for help. Recognizing this, we were inspired to create Ditto—a discreet, powerful tool designed to identify dangerous situations in real-time and empower individuals to seek help immediately, without arousing suspicion.

What it does

Ditto utilizes advanced speech recognition technology and AI-powered threat detection to actively monitor audio environments for signs of immediate danger or distress. When certain critical phrases or keywords indicating abuse or threats are detected, Ditto discreetly alerts users through subtle notifications and prompts them to confirm if they're in danger safely. If confirmed, it guides them toward immediate support or emergency intervention.

How we built it

We leveraged web-based speech recognition APIs integrated seamlessly with OpenAI's GPT-3.5 model for context-aware threat assessment. Front-end interactions and discreet user prompts were implemented using JavaScript, providing users with a simple yet highly effective emergency detection interface.

Challenges we ran into

Our major challenges included fine-tuning real-time speech detection responsiveness and effectively balancing immediate threat detection with minimizing false positives. Managing API rate limits from OpenAI required careful handling to maintain a reliable and responsive service.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're especially proud of our system's rapid response and discreet notification process, ensuring victims receive timely and confidential support. Achieving accurate, real-time emergency phrase detection while minimizing false positives was significant, highlighting Ditto’s practical application and reliability.

What we learned

Throughout development, we deepened our understanding of speech recognition's strengths and limitations in real-time contexts. We also learned critical skills in handling sensitive emergencies through AI, maintaining user safety, privacy, and trust.

What's next for Ditto

Next steps for Ditto include expanding multi-language support to reach a broader global audience, enhancing accuracy with customized AI models trained specifically on emergency scenarios, and integrating direct connections to emergency services and trusted contacts to facilitate rapid intervention.