Dec. 20—In the not-so-distant future — that, being the phrase of choice for the blurb-writers of all those 1950s science-fiction pulps and B-movies — you’ll find yourself in possession of still-yet another mobile media device.

And, said device, as these things go, will likely be even smarter and packed with more technology than its predecessor, which, incidentally, had just hit the market months before.

Pay attention to the weapons detection feature, which will have already been pre-loaded into the product.

It just might have a Morgantown connection, by way of Lucas Kniska and Ethan Tomlinson.

That’s because the pair of budding innovators, both juniors at Trinity Christian School, are among the national winners in the 2023 Congressional App Challenge.

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives linked up with Internet Education Foundation in 2013 to create the competition as a way to foster an appreciation for computer science and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).

The competition is open to any student in any congressional district across the nation.

Lucas and Ethan won in District 2 of West Virginia, which is why Alex Mooney, the congressman who represents that district, made the announcement Wednesday.

“Their winning app could be a game changer for school security, ” Mooney said.

These days, the threat of gun violence in America’s schools is ever-present.

Coming up with high-tech ways to quell such threats, or at least to slow them down, made for prime motivation, Lucas and Ethan said.

Their “ObjecTracer ” uses artificial intelligence and algorithms in a most accessible way.

Having it on your cell phone, the pair said, means having a whole security and surveillance network in your pocket or purse.

“We were originally inspired to work with artificial intelligence by its usefulness in improving safety, ” Lucas and Ethan said in a YouTube video introducing their entry.

“Over summer, our team created a machine learning algorithm, which would detect weapons from security cameras outside of schools, ” they continued.

“We wanted to continue learning about AI, and we wanted to make our findings widely available. To achieve this, we decided on bringing our algorithm to a mobile app.”

The two also completed a paid internship over the summer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, where they worked on various artificial intelligence applications.

Jess White, who oversaw their work there, didn’t require an app for his praise.

“We hope to see these young men back at NASA, ” he said.

To view the video of Lucas and Ethan explaining their app, go to YouTube and type “ObjecTracer CAC 2023 ” in the search field.