RipFinder: Real-Time Rip Current Detection and Citizen Science via Smartphone App

Presenter: Dr. Fahim Khan, Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Software Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Rip currents are a major coastal safety hazard, responsible for hundreds of drownings worldwide each year. This presentation introduces RipFinder, a mobile application (app) that uses machine learning and computer vision to detect rip currents in real time. The talk will discuss the technical challenges of deploying AI models on mobile platforms, the hybrid client-server architecture used in RipFinder, and its role in advancing public safety, education, and citizen science.