“I didn’t mean to offend. Women like you are just too sensitive.”
Moments later, fluorescent green text flashed across the lens of a pair of smart glasses: “Sexist stereotype detected: True. Suggested response: Everyone’s emotions are unique. Sensitivity is not a weakness, and everyone deserves respect.”
“It works!” shouted the team.
Their project, presented on April 6 at She Code Lab, China’s first women-focused hackathon series, involved programming smart glasses to analyze conversations to help women identify sexism and harassment. Called “SheSense,” the glasses also offer suggested responses and can record dialogue.
The marathon-style coding competition asked strangers to form teams of two to five people and develop a product within 48 hours. Of the total 161 contestants from 400 applicants who participated, around 90% were women.
