Can you imagine an app that allows someone to virtually walk home with you at night? An app that allows someone to be there, without actually being there in person?

Companion was created by  five students from the University of Michigan with the desire to make people walking home alone feel safer. The person who is walking alone has the ability to send a message to a friend, which allows the viewer to monitor the route,  movements, and pace of the user who is walking. The app even goes so far as to be able to pick up any sudden movements, and then alert the viewer who is monitoring the visit.

In the situation that sudden movements are detected, the app automatically sends a message to the phone of the walker asking if they are okay. If they are indeed okay, the walker then has a time frame of fifteen seconds to respond. If they do not respond, a message is sent to the viewer that there might be something wrong.

If something does happen to the user on their walk, there is an option to hit an emergency button that gives the user an option to call 911. Upon an attack, the app also sends out loud noises through the phone, in hopes that the predator will be scared off.

Ms. Thompson, the College and Career Resource Counselor here at York, shares her opinions on what this up and coming app has to offer, “I don’t think that it is a replacement for people being smart and not walking alone, but there are times when you get in a situation where you don’t really have a choice, so to me, it’s a great thing for that”.

While the app was originally created by a few college students in hopes to provide a safer campus, the practical applications that this app possesses stretch beyond just a campus. This app can be used in any situation where one may feel particularly vulnerable.
With the increase in cases of incidents happening to people while they are alone, especially on college campuses, Companion offers help to this problem that seems to be spiraling out of control. While this app is not the definite fix for this problem, it is a step in the right direction.