In an effort to improve personal safety, a Kolkata-based developer’s android application Chilla removes the hassles of unlocking the phone in a distress situation as it can be triggered by just a scream.

Kishlay Raj is yet to graduate from the Institute of Engineering and Management in Kolkata but his application Chilla, released on Android’s play store has already been recognized by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.

The application can be triggered by a scream or by pressing the power button five times. Once triggered, the application can send an SMS, email (with audio recording) and automatically place calls. Developer Kishlay Raj was unconvinced by the personal safety applications available freely on the internet. “I began working on the app seven months ago to find a practical solution to people in distress. I found many applications listed in the top ten personal safety applications but they did not provide real solutions to a person in danger“, said Raj.

Instead of relying on the quick-thinking of the person in distress, the Chilla application makes use of frequency detection and can send distress calls without the touch of a button. It works based on frequency detection rather than the loudness of the scream. “Anything can be loud - the sound of traffic or music in a party. Loudness also weakens with distance but the application instead works based on the pitch of the voice, which does not change with distance. The app will detect a scream even if it is kept in a bag and will send a message, email or place a call undetected“, Raj added.

The application has been popular so far with users rating it 5.0 (based on 83 reviews) on Google Play.