“Third Thumb” Augmentation Changes the Way we Think of Prosthetics
According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), the largest anti-sexual assault organization in the United States, nearly 240,000 people are sexually assaulted in the U.S. alone every year, 60% of which are not reported to the police. This is a major problem that many are struggling to try and find solutions for. It’s hard to even fathom what the statistics are for the rest of the world.
For Everfind, however, a Dutch company out of the Netherlands, they see an opportunity to provide a technological solution to keeping both men and women as safe as possible. Their latest design, the Safelet, could become that solution—a bracelet that’ll allow its wearer to alert friends, family, and even the police at the push of a button when in immediate danger.
Serious Wonder spoke about Safelet with Amal Graafstra, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Everfind, to which he said:
“The prevalence of smartphones gives us all this sense of ambient intimacy – the sense that, at any moment, we can reach out and communicate with anyone at any time. Nothing shatters this comforting sense of connectedness like the realization that it would not be safe to remove your phone from your pocket to make those connections. This device solves that problem.” – Amal Graafstra
Not only is the Safelet a safety bracelet, it has the potential to become an entire interconnected community network! Dubbed your Guardians, each wearer is given the ability to connect with various Safelet members throughout your vicinity via a smartphone app. You’re also given the choice to decide how you’re to be protected before any danger presents itself—whether you prefer only friends and family to be alerted, by the entire Safelet community, and/or by the police.
The Safelet has been carefully designed to ensure the most safety. With the simple touch of two buttons (one on each end of the bracelet), not only are the police and everyone in your Guardian list alerted, but a microphone inside is turned on as well to record everything. This gives each wearer the unique opportunity to not only have immediate protection at their disposal, but the security that their attack won’t go unheard.
“In the future, Safelet will continue to evolve. This is more than a hardware company. Building a support community enables Safelet to become more than just a bracelet, and we have big plans to empower people to help improve safety overall in their local communities.” – Amal Graafstra
Everfind is currently using crowdfunding site Indiegogo to help fund the Safelet. As of writing this, they’ve already achieved 11% of their funding goal of $40,000, with 43 days left remaining in the campaign. If you believe in Safelet just as much as Everfind does, be sure to drop by Indiegogo and donate.
FUTURE IMPLICATIONS
With the very real prospect of emerging technologies playing greater roles in our safety, how do you envision devices like the Safelet evolving over time? Could technology be the very solution we’ve all been searching for in addressing problems that’ve thus far spanned for centuries?
PC: Safelet / Everfind
About the author
B.J. Murphy is the Editor and Social Media Manager of Serious Wonder. He is a futurist, philosopher, activist, author and poet. B.J. is an Affiliate Scholar for the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET) and an Ambassador for the robotics company Humai.
You may also like
