{"id":348672,"date":"2026-07-22T15:26:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T15:26:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/348672\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T15:26:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T15:26:05","slug":"usf-student-creates-jewelry-sensor-to-detect-drink-spiking-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/348672\/","title":{"rendered":"USF student creates jewelry sensor to detect drink-spiking drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/xum666vrvdrrh4zj.jpg\" alt=\"Jewelry detects date rape drugs\" class=\"sr-only\" data-v-892ef6a8=\"\"\/>  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/xum666vrvdrrh4zj.jpg\" alt=\"Jewelry detects date rape drugs\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class=\"vod-poster-image\" data-v-6546b402=\"\"\/>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/video\/fmc-s3aj7d331bv06zs3\" data-v-892ef6a8=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jewelry detects date rape drugs<\/a> <\/p>\n<p data-v-892ef6a8=\"\">A former University of South Florida beach volleyball player is developing jewelry with a sensor designed to warn people when dangerous drugs have been slipped into their drinks. FOX 13&#8217;s Jennifer Kveglis reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">TAMPA, Fla. &#8211; A former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/organization\/usf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">University of South Florida<\/a> beach volleyball player is developing jewelry with a sensor designed to warn people when dangerous drugs have been slipped into their drinks.<\/p>\n<p>   Wearable Drink Safety Innovation <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">What we know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">At 22 years old, University of South Florida graduate student Addison Bounds co-founded Elora Armor to create a small sensor hidden inside bracelets, bag charms and pendants.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/vlcsnap-2026-07-07-22h25m28s134.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" width=\"932\" height=\"524\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  Inside The Technology <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">Dig deeper:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Bounds was inspired to act after hearing personal stories about drink spiking, including an assault on a close friend whose drink was drugged.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">She created the technology to give people more confidence and personal control during nights out.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/vlcsnap-2026-07-07-22h25m15s002.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" width=\"932\" height=\"524\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">The device uses electromagnetic sensors to test a drop of the drink for benzodiazepines, a class of drugs often linked to drink spiking, before sending an alert to a connected smartphone app.<\/p>\n<p> Personal Safety Mission <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Bounds aims to empower potential victims and take proactive measures against harm.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">&#8220;It&#8217;s like a really rude awakening of like, wow, there are people that really intend to do harm and there isn&#8217;t really anyone looking out for us except for ourselves,&#8221; Bounds said.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/vlcsnap-2026-07-07-22h25m40s458.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" width=\"932\" height=\"524\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/> <\/p>\n<p data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\">Courtesy: Kiara Robichaud <\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Co-founder Kiara Robichaud is working alongside a dedicated team to develop the technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Robichaud hopes the product becomes part of a broader national effort to prevent drink spiking.<\/p>\n<p> Future Product Launch <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">What&#8217;s next:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">The co-founders plan to release the product in January 2028, just before the Summer Olympics.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">They also plan to expand the sensor line beyond initial jewelry designs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: Information in this story comes from interviews with Addison Bounds and Kira Robichaud, co-founders of Elora Armor, and reporting by FOX 13\u2019s Jennifer Kveglis.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/us\/fl\/hillsborough\/tampa\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-94395e58=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tampa<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/crime-publicsafety\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-94395e58=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Crime and Public Safety<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jewelry detects date rape drugs A former University of South Florida beach volleyball player is developing jewelry with&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[630,47,629,115,135,137,136,628],"class_list":["post-348672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-fl","tag-hillsborough","tag-news","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=348672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}