Gangrape fallout: Rs 500 watch for women to send out distress signal

mangaloretoday.com/ ITV

New Delhi, Jan 13: The Ministry of Communications & IT has asked C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) to develop a wristwatch-cum-safety device for women, which would enable the wearer to send out a distress signal along with her location at the push of a button or a spoken call for help.

 

Communication Minister Kapil Sibal told Indian Express the watch could be available in a few months. 

The watch is likely to run both Java- and Android-based applications, and will  have a multi-lingual voice command system, an SMS-based SOS sender, and a URL-based alert and tracking system.

The wearer would be able to send a distress signal or message to the nearest police station and several pre-programmed numbers and e-mail addresses by either a push or voice command, officials said. Efforts are on to build a GPS and camera into the device, with the capacity to record at least 30 minutes of footage.

 

C-DAC has been asked to work with private sector players to develop a voice command system that is sensitive to a range of Indian languages and accents, the officials said. “Once the project is established, the private sector can move in, as we did in the case of Aakash (tablets),” Sibal said.

“We are looking at technology-based solutions regarding the safety of women. The concept is that you wear something on the wrist, and the moment you say ‘Help Me’, the video automatically starts and the call goes to pre-determined numbers,” Sibal said.

“There are other features as well but they are at the conceptual stage. It will take about four weeks for the project to be fleshed out, and technology development will take about six months. We really want that whatever device we develop, it should be affordable and, therefore, should not cost more than Rs 500,” Sibal said.