Jan 21
Google Glass sure has its fair share of dumb applications
     |
Aug 19
Ok Glass, you can hear the cop now. Take a picture of that license plate. Try: Ok Glass. Record a video of this five alarm fire. Or even: Ok Glass. Search: gunshot wound treatment. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize that Google Glass could be a valuable tool for first responders. And now, the first app has popped up that could make it a reality.
| |
Apr 01
Firefighters have a tough job. They risk their lives to save the lives of others. Often they might find themselves in a smoke filled room where visibility is quite bad. This could seriously hamper their relief efforts, while putting their life at risk as well. A group of researchers at the University of Sheffield have come up with an interesting prototype helmet. This helmet vibrates against the forehead of the person wearing it, this vibration is an indication of objects and obstacles nearby.
The team fitted a standard Rosenbauer firefighting helmet with vibrational pads and ultrasound sensors. The helmet sends out pulses of ultrasound and analyzes the echos to determine the proximity of objects. It responds by activating the vibrational pads facing the object, thus giving a tactile directional alert to the wearer. The concept is pretty intelligent, particularly the usage of vibrational pads to let the firefighter know of objects nearby. Any other method might not be as effective, as firefighters generally don’t have their hands free to operate equipment other than that required for their relief efforts. It can also be further developed to help visually impaired people, the possibilities are endless.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: GIGS.2.GO Is A Handy Way Of Keeping USB Flash Drives With You, iPhone 6 Concept Looks Pretty Interesting, 
Jan 23
This Is What Happens When You Fight a Five-Alarm Fire in Single-Digit Weather
Posted in: Today's Chili
Firefighting is an extremely dangerous job on par with helicopter linemen and DC pizza delivery boys. But when fighting a Chicago-area warehouse inferno earlier today, crews had to endure both fire and ice caused by temperatures hovering just above 0 degrees F. Check out shots of the fire’s aftermath over at WSJ. More »
Jan 21
Australian firefighters test data-transmitting pills to monitor biometrics during work
Posted in: Today's Chili 
A new swallowable pill has been trialled with 50 firefighters in Australia, aimed at monitoring body temperatures and other vital readings when working under extreme conditions. Using Equivital’s EQ02 LifeMonitor capsule, the pill transmits metrics to a device housed on the chest. This then sends data on skin temperature, heart rate and respiration rate to an external computer. If a firefighter’s core body temperature is increasing too quickly, they can then be moved from the frontline to a recovery area, hopefully reducing accidents and deaths caused by heat exhaustion.
Until now, the standard method involved measuring body temperatures through the ear, but this new method — which was also used to monitor Felix Baumgartner’s 23-mile drop to Earth — offers a faster, more effective way of monitoring multiple vital signs. Research has so far focused on monitoring a firefighters’ core temperature when they’ve been exposed to temperatures between from -3 to 124 degrees Celsius for about 20 minutes, but according to News.com.au, testing will continue on the Equivital capsules, with temperatures likely to go as high as 600 degrees Celsius — about 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit. We’re just hoping that electrical firewands are next on the list.
Via: PopSci
Source: News.au.com
Jan 20
Firefighters Can Take Smart-Pills That Report Back Important Data About Their Guts
Posted in: Today's Chili
Firefighters run into flaming buildings for a living, It’s not exactly what you might call a safe job. And while they can tell generally how they’re doing by noting whether or not they are on fire at any given time, there’s a lot more nuance to keeping track of other aspects of their health. That’s where data delivery pills come in. More »
Jan 04
If you ever want to re-live your childhood dream of being a firefighter, watch the video up above. The helmet cam footage comes from Scott Ziegler, a firefighter in Michigan, and shows a year’s worth of fires from 2012. It’s freaking intense. More »
Sep 25
MIT’s real-time indoor mapping system uses Kinect, lasers to aid rescue workers
Posted in: Today's Chili 
We’ve seen the Kinect put to use to help you find your groceries, but the sensor’s image processing capabilities have some more safety-minded applications as well. The fine minds at MIT combined the Kinect with a laser range finder and a laptop to create a real-time mapping rig for firefighters and other rescue workers. The prototype, called SLAM (for Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) received funding from the US Air Force and the Office of Naval Research, and it stands out among other indoor mapping systems for its focus on human (rather than robot) use and its ability to produce maps without the aid of any outside information, thanks to an on-board processor.
Continue reading MIT’s real-time indoor mapping system uses Kinect, lasers to aid rescue workers
Filed under: Alt
MIT’s real-time indoor mapping system uses Kinect, lasers to aid rescue workers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 25 Sep 2012 13:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
ZDNet UK | 
MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab | Email this | Comments
Jul 03
Cheap, Plastic-Filled Furniture Makes It Easier for Fire to Destroy Our Homes [Plastic]
Posted in: Today's Chili
Today, more and more furniture is made using plastic-based materials, which burns drastically faster than the interior decor of yore, sucking all the oxygen out of a room at a faster clip, and making it harder to evacuate people. It’s a serious problem that’s making firefighters completely reconsider how they put fires out. More »
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.