THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The last summer vacation was unusual for Adithyan R G. Breaking free from the stress of SSLC examinations, the Meenankal, Thiruvananthapuram, native spent time on his computer, purchased to edit his family vlogs, and developed a multipurpose application that can, among other things, identify surveillance devices.
‘High Range’ — an all-in-one smart utility that includes a digital compass, geolocation pointer and seismic-activity indicator — was developed by the 16-year-old, who this year cleared his Class 10 as a student of the Government Tribal High School in his village. Currently awaiting his polytechnic admission, Adithyan recently launched the app, which is available in 196 countries.
“We used to make family vlogs and video content for our YouTube channel, ‘Kodum Kattu’, all edited on mobile phones. Later, we decided to purchase a computer to help with editing. It eventually became my platform for learning coding. Despite failing in my initial attempts to create apps, I persisted. I developed this app in just three days.”
Though he developed a passion for computers at school, he started learning coding through the internet. At a time when most youngsters spend their nights doomscrolling, Adithyan remained awake till 3am during his vacation break, learning to code and working on the app.
The camera-spotting feature, which was added later to the app, detects active devices using magnetic field intensity. “All one needs to do is activate the ‘Flux Scanner’ option of the app. Strong detection of a high-flux density indicates the immediate presence of hidden devices, ranging from mobile cameras to even button cameras,” Adithyan said.
The son of a daily wager father and homemaker mother, Adithyan’s early days were challenging. “He was mute till the age of four, and was treated by three doctors at SAT Hospital. Three months after turning four, he began uttering small words like ‘amma’ and ‘acha’. We were patient with him. As a result he was not hard on himself,” said Ratheesh, his father.
Adithyan is now planning to incorporate an offline GPS trail recorder to the app. “We often hear about people getting lost while trekking. As my app does not need an internet connection, this will be beneficial for first-time trekkers.”