First Prize - Student Innovators Without Borders Hacks

Dementia wandering is one of the most dangerous behaviors associated with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. Up to 60% of people with dementia will wander at least once, and if not found within 24 hours, up to 50% risk serious injury or death.

We built SafeWander to address this critical need:

• Early Detection: Catch wandering incidents before they become emergencies through intelligent geofencing and real-time monitoring
• Rapid Response: Enable caregivers to respond within minutes, not hours, with live location tracking and emergency mode
• Peace of Mind: Allow family members to monitor loved ones remotely without being physically present 24/7
• Coordinated Search: When incidents do occur, enable rapid coordination with emergency contacts and authorities

"Safe steps, peaceful mind" - Our tagline reflects our mission to ensure dementia patients can maintain their independence while keeping caregivers informed and families at peace.

SafeWander is a comprehensive full-stack application for monitoring and ensuring the safety of dementia patients. The system provides:

🛡️ Prevention Features

• Real-time GPS tracking with live map updates
• Intelligent geofence zones with automatic boundary alerts
• Battery monitoring to ensure device is always active
• Activity timeline to understand patient patterns

🔍 Detection Features

• Multi-level alert system (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
• Intelligent escalation when alerts go unacknowledged
• Zone boundary detection with instant notifications
• Anomaly detection for unusual movement patterns

🚨 Emergency Response

• One-click emergency activation
• Live location sharing with shareable links
• Emergency contact notifications
• Search radius management and visualization
• Missing person profile with photo and medical info

Frontend Stack

• Next.js 15 with App Router for a modern React framework
• TypeScript for type safety across the entire codebase
• Tailwind CSS v4 for utility-first styling
• shadcn/ui for polished, accessible UI components
• Leaflet.js for interactive maps with search radius visualization

Backend Stack

• FastAPI for a modern, high-performance Python web framework
• SQLAlchemy for ORM-based database operations
• SQLite for a serverless database solution
• Pydantic for robust data validation

Key Implementation Details

• Real-time data synchronization with auto-refresh
• All buttons fully functional and connected to backend APIs
• SQLite database tracks all patient data, alerts, and events
• Responsive design that works on desktop and mobile devices

• Secured 1st place among 957 participants internationally
• Built a complete, production-ready full-stack application in hackathon timeframe
• Addressed a critical real-world problem affecting millions of dementia patients globally
• Demonstrated technical excellence with modern tech stack (Next.js 15, FastAPI, TypeScript)