University of Michigan Student App Could Help Keep Campuses Safer

University of Michigan students created an app that allows people to track their friends as they walk to a destination, and those students are now working with the school's campus safety officials to optimize its ability to make campuses safer.

Published: March 9, 2015Author: CS Staff

The Companion app will use real-time tracking to let people follow their friends as they walk to their destination, something the creators say will make campuses safer.

A group of business students at the University of Michigan are working with the school’s police department on an app that could make campuses around the country safer.

Danny Freed is one of five students who created the app Companion, which lets people choose friends from their phone’s contacts to monitor their trip in real time. Freed explained that the app sends notifications to anyone you’ve selected when you arrive at your destination, if you go off route or if you take too long to get to your destination, according to mlive.com.

For a student facing a long walk across campus late at night, the app can provide peace of mind, and the University of Michigan’s Department of Public Safety apparently agrees. The department has been brainstorming with Companion’s creators to help the app improve safety measures on campus.

Some officers suggested changes and additions that would make the app a more useful tool for the department. In response to these suggestions Freed says he’s going to work on taking the live data the app collects and start trying to use it to help police cover the campus more effectively. The app recently won $25,000 and Best Overall Business at the University of Michigan’s Michigan Business Challenge.

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