A university student has created a colour-changing wristband which alerts friends and nightclub staff if someone is being harassed.
21-year-old Beatriz Carvalho created the discreet wristband, along with a smartphone app, after suffering from harassment as a teenager.
The Edinburgh Napier product design student said she wanted to come up with a savvy invention for her fourth year project which will help victims and educate perpetrators.
Lux, the wristband and app, connects friends on a night out and sends them and bar or nightclub staff an alert if the wearer is feeling distressed or intimidated.
Beatriz said: ‘I settled on creating something that was educational as well as preventative.
‘The aim of Lux is first and foremost to help keep its wearer safe.
‘It’s also there to identify behaviour on nights out that is going too far and to help educate the perpetrator that this sort of thing isn’t acceptable.
‘It’s important that people who do potentially harass and step over the line learn to not do this sort of thing again – that’s really the only way that things will improve.’
The product design student added that the invention stemmed from her own experiences of harassment.
She said: ‘It’s also been a personal project. I experienced harassment while I was at High School and there are certain triggers that bring that horrible memory back.
‘It’s the same for people who have experienced something like this in a nightclub or at a gig.
‘No one should be scared of going out and Lux could be the difference for many – it could act like a safety net.’
The gender inclusive wristband can be linked to an app which friends can join before heading on a night out.
If the wearer finds themselves in a threatening, distressing or uncomfortable situation, they can tap the wristband to trigger an alert sent to friends through the app.
A double tap will make the wristband light up and send a second alarm to bar and nightclub staff.
The bars involved will have to sign up to the scheme to make sure they receive the alerts, which they will get through the app, and by seeing the glowing wristband.
Beatriz said: ‘Sexual harassment and behaviour that makes people uncomfortable is a complex subject.
‘Many people want to shy away from it and pretend that it doesn’t happen.
‘I’ve always been of the view that it is good to talk about these sort of things so that more people know what sort of behaviour is acceptable and what isn’t.
‘I think Lux has the potential to play a big part in allowing these conversations to happen.’
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