Thursday, September 15, 2011

BuddyGuard App

Urban Daddy is a unique site; it's a city-specific newsletter on special offers, cool events, etc. that are going on, and it seems to be targeted towards international spies (or people who wish they were). They're constantly assuming that their members lead drama-filled, exotic lives of constant jetsetting and possible danger. It usually just makes me laugh, but about a week ago they sent out an email about a mobile app that might have implications for pharma. 

It's called "BuddyGuard," and it uses mobile sensors to keep you safe or blast out an SOS message if you're not. When activated, the app has an "instant protection" feature that lets you record video, audio and photos and send them to designated contacts if you're attending an "unsafe meeting." It will also perodically check in with you to make sure you're okay. If the phone experiences 5G of force or accelerates for more than 1 second (if you're falling, for example, or in a car crash) it will send an alert.


Although I think this is a little paranoid, I do like the idea - after all, we have apps that monitor your sleep habits and restlessness, so why not an app for your personal safety and security? I also think it has implications for a broad usage - I'm sure lots of parents would like to know if their kids are in an "unsafe location," or boomers would love an app that lets them keep track of their elderly parents' health and well-being. The only problem is that you have to manually turn-on the app for it to go into effect; I'm not sure how many people would remember to do that. 

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