Eagleye

Inspiration

According to Tempo, Jakarta has the 5th most dangerous public transportation system in the world. Many people experience crimes while using public transportation such as robberies, sexual harassment, and even kidnappings. All of which we hear often on the news.

What it does

Eagleye serves to help those in uncomfortable situations when using public transportation via a disguised one-press alert system, live location tracking system, emergency contacts and necessary details (type of public transport, destination, etc.)

Aims

Eagleye seeks to eradicate any negative connotation around public transportation, and to shed public transportation in a more positive light both in Jakarta and the rest of Indonesia. We hope to have users travelling anywhere they want, with whoever they want, wearing whatever they want, with utmost confidence, security, and reassurance that they are travelling safely; if anything goes wrong, no matter who they are with, help is just one click away.

What sets us apart

Although location-tracking apps such as Life360 already exist, ours is like no other. Unlike other alert system applications, our app not only offers all their features combined, but most importantly, we offer -- number 1) discretion and number 2) a very time-efficient distress call. When stuck in an uncomfortable situation where you feel as if something could jeopardize your safety, you never know who might be watching. Eagleye allows users to send an alert containing all related information -- with only one click of a button -- before anything bad can happen, all whilst maintaining discretion to make sure no one sees the alert being sent itself, therefore allowing our users to stay safe under any circumstance.

How we built it

• We implemented the app with a Google Maps API for location tracking using Java Swing Library, JUnit, and JSON
• We wrote user stories to guide the development team, ensuring that marketing initiatives aligned with user needs and drove engagement
• We developed a fully functional and responsive Landing Page, Profile Page, Contacts Page, and Location Tracking Page using Figma.

Challenges we ran into

Thunkable was a lot less user-friendly than we expected. We thought that we would be able to work on the project simultaneously from each others’ devices, but the software would crash every time that happened. We had to learn to work on the code individually on each others’ time while the others worked on the other submissions.

What we accomplished

Our organizational skills. Completing in 48 hours. Minimal experience as coders or software developers. Conquering Thunkable. Designing the logo from scratch.

Oh, and working together.

What we learned

Not only did we learn how to use and create building block code, we believe our biggest takeaway was working together as a team with the pressure of a time constraints during this hackathon. Communication and constant discussion was probably the key to our cooperation.

Who did we make our app for?

Our target audience is everyone, both youths and adults, both those who already use public transportation and those who still currently use private transportation. We want everyone to view public transportation as a first choice. We’re inclusive.

What’s we hope to achieve//what’s next

Think of Jakarta’s MRT, bus, angkot, bajay, Kopaja and many more of its transportation systems like you would Japan’s or Singapore’s MRT system, with its popularity and safety. That’s what we hope to achieve. But with Indonesia’s current facilities.

Why we should win in our track (& in the competition)

Through Eagleye, we seek to create a better and safer social environment for everyone -- one where people can travel confidently, one where safety is a norm, and one where public transportation isn’t seen negatively.

Additionally, as people switch from private to public transport, air pollution and traffic congestion can be significantly reduced.

Potential Feature Improvements

We could have a password for when to disable the alert system, or when a user arrives to further ensure their safety and privacy. (No one can disable the alarm or declare arrival other than the user themselves) Additionally, we could include pre-recorded audios of fake phone calls that the user can play as a last resort, to mimic private conversations which may scare away the driver/any individual with ill intent (e.g. phone call from Mom telling her she’s waiting for the user to get home.) We could also improve instant/quick communication in our app through messaging and calling services. This can be done through in-app chatting and calling features, or buttons in the app that are shortcuts to third-party text or call applications to contact your emergency contacts instantly. Having the alert messages sent to the chat feature inside the app will make it more efficient in terms of the ease and time of sending the alert out. Martial arts education. 2-minute quick-read martial art moves can be placed on one of the pages/sections of our app as a last-minute way to combat any potential violence done to the user.

Potential Technical improvements

Due to time restrictions, we were unable to incorporate a sign up and login system (user authentication). In the future, this could be useful to store user’s data, etc. To improve accuracy and easier identification of our users in the case of a distress call, we could add a “camera” feature to capture our user’s outfit of the day, in addition to the text-based details we already have (what type of transportation, destination, etc.) Lastly, we could incorporate multiple languages into our app to make it more accessible to the general Indonesian population.

Incorporating A.I.

Artificial intelligence can be used in the GPS tracking features of the app. The A.I. could gather data from different sources frequently every once in a while (e.g. data on average household income in that area, average crime rates in that area, etc.) and indicate or mark on the location map which areas are safe or unsafe ("shady"), and alert the user if it seems like an unsafe area, if the driver is taking a risky route.

A.I. could also be used to calculate all possible routes from the user’s location to the destination the user entered. This way, [in a taxi or private rideshare apps] if the user is going the wrong way from their destination (no route possible), or taking a suboptimal/risky/dangerous route, the user can be alerted.

Potential Business/Monetary Improvements

As for the business/monetary aspect of our app, we plan to make our app completely free for our users. However, in the future, in-app purchases can be made available. For instance, we can incorporate a shop section that serves as affiliate links to self-defence products in third-party marketplaces which will 1) make these products easily accessible to the users, and 2) generate revenue for further development of our app through commission, etc.

Built With

• block-coding
• thunkable