High Schooler Invents Wearable Device that Helps People Socially Distance
Stuck in her bedroom during the pandemic, 16-year-old Pennsylvania student Neha Shukla invented a device that helps people avoid catching and spreading COVID-19. Dubbed “Six Feet Apart,” her invention is a wearable device that uses ultrasonic technology, artificial intelligence, and infrared imaging to alert people when they are within 6 feet of one another in public, according to Penn Live.
“I think what really shocked me was that someone could lose their life because of a simple mistake of not social distancing correctly,” Shukla told the publication. “And that just seems so wrong. So I wanted to do something to address that problem, and I decided to create Six Feet Apart.”
Six Feet Apart is equipped with ultrasonic sensors and can be inserted into a hat. When another person is within 6 feet of the wearer, the device sets off alerts through sounds or vibrations.
According to Shukla, the sensor’s transceiver sends out short pulses of ultrasonic waves. When someone is within six feet, the waves bounce off the person back to the sensors. Then a reflection of the waves is calculated mathematically as a certain distance. Shukla added an artificial intelligence algorithm that uses infrared imaging to detect body heat, which allows the device to tell the difference between people and objects.
When she isn’t busy inventing, Shukla is helping other students learn about technology through a series of Zoom workshops called “Innovation Corner.”
“So many of my peers are so interested in the problems around us,” she told Penn Live of why she founded the series. “Gen Z is always interested in things like social justice, the environment, COVID-19, our education system – there’s so many things our generation is interested in, and problems that they’re passionate about, but they don’t have a framework to innovate, or create these long-lasting solutions.”
Learn more about Innovation Corner.
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