Science and technology are progressing at quite a rapid rate and we see new gadgets and devices coming to the market every now and then. However, devices such as the one we are about to cover today are the real gadgets that matter. The basic aim behind science and technology is to make human’s life better and that is exactly why we can’t help but commend when people step forward with awesome ideas and execute them.
Mathew Sheet is a new father and he was concerned about how parents forget their children in cars and the deaths that have occurred. He was so worried that he went ahead and designed a gadget that would prevent such a incident from taking place again.
The gadget has been named ‘The Starfish’ and it is basically a weight-activated sensor that notifies the parents via their mobile phones if the child has been left/forgotten in the baby seat. The alarm goes off once the parents step out of a 6 meters radius from the baby seat and forgot to take the baby with them. If the notification goes un-noticed, the Starfish will relay this alarm to their emergency contacts within five minutes. The device that is about 1.5 inches round and as thick as a few coins, costs $60 and shall be available for shipment once the Kickstarter campaign ends in September.
In words of Mathew Sheet; ‘On average, one child dies in a hot car every nine days in the United States. With Starfish, we aim to make that number zero. As a new father, hearing the news of yet another infant losing his life in a hot car horrified me. I asked myself, ‘How? Why? What can be done? The search for answers prompted me to start developing a device that could easily prevent these tragedies from happening. That device is Starfish.’
Mr Sheets resides in Birmingham, Alabama at the moment and has named the gadget as Starfish because of how it will stick inside a child’s seat. He is hopeful to begin shipping in December, oh and the gadget is compatible with Android and iOS over Bluetooth. He further said; ‘When you place your child on the Starfish device, it automatically pairs with your smartphone, sending you a notification that your child is in his or her seat. When activated, Starfish then creates a ‘geo-fence’ radius around itself. If you leave the “geo-fenced” area, around 20ft (6 metres), Starfish will automatically notify you that your child may be in danger. For me, this technology is all about saving lives. Starfish is a simple way to prevent these tragedies from happening. With enough support, we will enter production by October, and have plans to ship units by November and first runs by December.’