SAFER, A smart necklace to help women in India feel safer.
How it works:
The pendant has an SOS button at the back to alert friends and family that the wearer is in danger. The device will call and message chosen contacts of the wearer’s location. It also pairs with smart phones to navigate the nearesr hospital and police station.
According to a report, the Delhi police received a distress call every nine minutes on average from a woman in 2016.
Effectiveness of the device
There have been positive responses for this device and though the price of the device currently is at US$30, plans are being made to make such a device more accessible by reducing its price.
“The police are not doing a very good job,” she said. “I’ve actually seen policemen harassing women.”
Since the Police in this case may not be as reliable, it is a good idea that the device addresses loved ones directly. Perhaps the only criticism that I would have for the device is that it does not look very subtle and may look suspicious to potential attackers.
Other Safety Devices on the market
Revolar Safety Device works much in the same way as Safer with more optios: one click to show you are safe, and two to three clicks to send help. There are also apps like Companion that work in the same way of alerting loved ones when in trouble but this may not be as instant as a click of a button.
Overall, I think these devices are useful and may even be developed further to include other target audiences like the elderly.