A Macalester College senior has invented an app to stop veterans’ night terrors caused by post-traumatic stress disorder. After witnessing his father suffer after spending a year in Iraq, Tyler Skluzacek invented a wearable device app that seeks to predict and prevent night terrors.
“Your dad just disappearing for a year and coming back a little bit different and seeing his Army buddies and them coming back a little bit different, too. … I have a real personal connection to the PTSD problem,” Skluzacek said.
He first began working on the app in September, through a programming contest called HackDC. There, his team won $1,500 for the app, which they called “myBivy” — an abbreviation aptly selected for a bivouac, which is a temporary camp or shelter.
Skluzacek said the app will use sound or vibration to prevent night terrors, and it is currently being tested by the Department of Veterans Affairs and sleep experts.