The free app, called Hula, promotes safe sex and emphasizes the idea of making better health decisions through concrete information.
Hula works to help users in four specific ways.
The app locates the closest and highest-rated STD testing centers and assists users in figuring out how to obtain their personal health records.
The app also shares the info with others if they are interested in doing so and reminds them when they should be tested again.
CEO Ramin Bastani said he founded the app after a personal experience when a woman slapped him in the face and walked out of the after he asked her if she had been recently tested.
“I thought there had to be a better way to do this, and a way you could actually share your verified information,” he said. “We like to call it a modern version of, ‘I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.’”
Bastani said Hula is a fun way to make the situation less awkward for both parties involved.
He said the app makes it easier to ask the very dreaded yet important question.
On campus, anonymous HIV testing is free for students through Student Health Services at Olin Health Center.
Student Health Services also provides free condoms to students at Olin Health Center.
Upon request, students also can get free polyisoprene condoms, female condoms, dental dams and lubricant.
HIV counselor Kevin Bator said Student Health Services does not currently use or promote Hula.
In the future, Bastani said he hopes Hula will become a key part of other dating apps, such as Tinder.
“At some point in the future you will see a Hula badge on a profile, but we’re not there yet,” he said.
The app currently is only available for iPhones.
The company also has a mobile optimized website, which can be accessed from any smartphone.
For more information, visit www.hulahq.com.
Staff reporter Michael Kransz contributed to this report.
