A group of teenagers from London just invented a condom that glows when it detects an STI.
The S.T.EYE condom is the brainchild of students Muaz Nawaz (13), Daanyaal Ali (14), and Chirag Shah (14), from London’s Isaac Newton Academy.
They came up with the idea, which won top prize at the TeenTech Awards, as a way to combat soaring rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
The condom uses a built-in layer of molecules that glow when they come into contact with bacteria and viruses associated with the most common STIs.
And they glow a different colour depending on the infection detected – green for chlamydia, yellow for herpes, purple in the presence of the virus which causes genital warts, and blue for syphilis.
As Daanyaal, one of the 14-year-old designers, explains: ‘We wanted to create something that makes detecting harmful STIs safer than ever before, so that people can take immediate action in the privacy of their own homes without the invasive procedures at the doctors.’
He added: ‘We’ve made sure we’re able to give peace of mind to users and make sure people can be more responsible than ever before.’
The TeenTech Awards aim to help teens between the ages of 11 and 16 see the wide range of career possibilities in science, engineering and technology.
Other ideas presented at the awards included a Wi-Fi-connected hair clip that changes colour to match your clothing, and a ‘panic bracelet’ which calls the emergency services if a user gets into trouble (by monitoring their pulse).
At the finals this weekend, the boys’ smart condom was awarded top prize in the health category, which means they win £1,000 for their school and will get to visit Buckingham Palace to receive their award.
The colourful condoms are not available to buy at the moment – a spokesperson for the awards told the Daily Dot that they are only ‘very much a concept and… not a finalised design’.
But, as well as showing that not all teenagers are totally clueless about their sexual health (shocker!), it’s just a hint of what the next generation of smart condoms could do.
As a spokesperson for the awards told MailOnline: ‘TeenTech demonstrates how the next generation holds the innovative ideas of the future in their hands.’
