AURA

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Inspiration

The idea for AURA came from a painful truth: millions of women alter their daily lives—avoiding certain streets, not stepping out after dark, clutching keys between their fingers—because they cannot sense danger until it's too late. Existing safety apps require manual action: pressing a button, making a call, sharing location. But in moments of panic or coercion, these actions become impossible.

We asked ourselves: What if women could feel danger the way they feel cold? What if technology could give them a sixth sense—an intuitive warning system that works silently, automatically, and before harm occurs?

That question became our north star. We wanted to move safety from reactive panic to proactive calm.

What it does

AURA is a speculative tool that gives women a new sensory ability: Ambient Threat Perception. It continuously monitors subtle environmental and social cues that humans cannot consciously detect—micro-vibrations in the ground, air pressure changes from rapid movement, collective micro-expressions of crowds, and historical pattern recognition—and synthesizes them into a simple, intuitive "threat level" feeling.

The user experiences this through:

A wearable bracelet that vibrates gently with increasing intensity as threat rises

A mobile app showing a threat meter (0-100%), a color-coded heat map (blue=calm, red=danger), and actionable alerts

Automatic Trust Circle notifications if threat remains high without response

AURA doesn't just detect danger—it helps users avoid it entirely by suggesting safer routes and providing early warnings, all without requiring manual action.

How we built it

We approached this as a speculative design project, imagining capabilities that don't yet exist while grounding the experience in real human needs.

Design Process:

User research – We studied the behavioral patterns of women commuters, identifying pain points in existing safety solutions.

Concept development – We explored emerging science around human senses (humans have 22-33 distinct senses!) and asked: what if we could augment one?

Interface design – Using Figma, we created 7 core app screens:

Onboarding flow

Sensory Dashboard (home)

Threat Heat Map

Alert Screen

Calibration

Sensory History

Trust Circle

Prototyping – We built clickable prototypes to demonstrate user flow and interaction patterns.

Safeguard planning – We designed privacy and ethics guardrails from day one, ensuring the tool empowers without exploiting.

Tools used: Figma, Figma Slides, Iconify plugin, Inter font family.

Challenges we ran into

Challenge Solution Making the "invisible sense" feel real We used visual metaphors (radar waves, glowing orbs) and haptic feedback concepts to ground the abstract idea. Avoiding information overload We designed a hierarchy: glanceable threat meter → color-coded map → detailed history. Users control sensitivity. Balancing safety with privacy We made anonymization the default. No individual tracking. Data stays on device unless explicitly shared. Explaining a speculative concept clearly We used concrete use cases (late-night walk, crowded market, unknown neighborhood) to make it relatable. Designing for emotional wellbeing We avoided gamification (no "fear scores") and focused on calm, not anxiety.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Creating a believable new sense that feels both futuristic and necessary

Designing an interface that makes threat information intuitive at a glance (the threat meter and heat map)

Building privacy and ethics into the core concept, not as an afterthought

Developing 3 concrete use cases that show real-world value

Transforming our original "Nirbhay" safety app concept into something truly speculative and novel that meets the challenge requirements

What we learned

The future is designed before it's built – Speculative design lets us imagine possibilities before technology catches up.

New senses need new interfaces – You can't show a "sixth sense" with a simple number. It requires metaphors, colors, and haptics.

Safety tools must empower, not frighten – The goal is calm confidence, not constant fear.

Privacy is not a feature, it's a foundation – Every design decision must consider user trust.

Women's safety is a design problem – It requires understanding real experiences, not just adding panic buttons.

What's next for AURA

While AURA is a speculative concept, the ideas can inform future development:

Sensor fusion research – Exploring how existing sensors (accelerometers, microphones, cameras) could approximate threat detection

Community heat maps – Anonymized, opt-in data sharing to help entire communities understand safer routes

Wearable integration – Moving beyond phones to subtle, always-on devices (bracelets, pins, clothing)

Public safety partnerships – Working with transit authorities, campus security, and community groups

AI ethics research – Ensuring threat prediction algorithms are fair, unbiased, and transparent

We envision a future where no woman has to choose between her safety and her freedom.

Built With

• figma
• iconify
• openstreetmap
• slides
• typescript