Though jogging the University Lakes is a popular pastime among University students, some fear the risks of running alone at night. University doctoral candidate Stuart Adams has developed an app to quell students’ qualms.
During his graduate research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland, Adams heard news of a woman in the nearby town of Bethesda who had been sexually assaulted while jogging on a local trail.
Running on a treadmill later that night, Adams was moved to prevent further acts of violence through the creation of an app.
“Yank,” available free on the App Store, alerts three selected contacts of an attack after the user yanks a set of headphones out of his or her device. Adams said the emergency pull cord available on all treadmills inspired the design.
Adams said he thinks the app will be useful on the University’s campus given the amount of students who run the LSU lakes.
“One of the easiest things they could do is pull the cord on their headphones,” Adams said. “A lot of people are already running with them.”
Adams said users can arm the app before running or leaving work late at night, and disable a false alarm by entering a personalized pin code during a brief countdown.
“It runs in the background,” Adams said. “You don’t have to do anything else after you arm it.”
Adams, who developed Yank with Syracuse University professor Adam Peruta, said he thinks his app is an enhancement on LSUPD’s app, LSU SHIELD, unveiled two weeks ago.
LSU SHIELD users must open the app and select an emergency call button in dangerous situations. Adams said he thinks his design is more intuitive for University students.
“That’s a lot easier than if somebody attacks you to pull out your phone, open the app, press a button,” Adams said. “I don’t know if that’s necessarily feasible in that time frame.”