Google Home, Apple Watch, Nest Protect And Philips Hue's Life Saving Features And Emergency Responses

Smart devices are steadily becoming a part of our daily lives, with gadgets like smart speakers, which are a combination of voice commands and artificial intelligence, being very useful in emergency scenarios.

While users may be coming to terms with the idea of a slew of smart devices inside their homes, in their pockets or on their wrists, these devices are evolving fast in their capabilities in responding rapidly in emergency situations.

Reports said a smart speaker saved the life of a woman and her daughter in New Mexico by alerting authorities to an alleged assault last week. Eduardo Barros allegedly pointed a gun at his girlfriend and posed the question: “Did you call the sheriffs?”

This exchange triggered the speaker to call 911. Earlier reports indicated the speaker was a Google Home, but later reports removed reference to the device.

Read: Smart Speaker Auto-Calls Police During Domestic Assault

Since some smart speakers like the Amazon Echo Show come equipped with a camera and a display, chances are these devices may become more proactive in similar situations once visual recognition technology is equally developed. There could be a scenario when a smart speaker detects the presence of a gun or an intruder in a home and calls 911.

There are some companies that are bettering the smart speaker's capabilities to respond in emergency situations. Theree students from the School of Visual Arts in New York — Elushika Weerakoon, Kohzy Koh and David Al-Ibrahim — have created a smart speaker called Readi, which ususally functions as a smart speaker, but becomes a communications hub during emergencies. Users can just flip it over and it will transform into an emergency communication system with a walkie talkie and an FM radio.

Not just smart speakers, other smart devices have saved lives in the past. The Apple Watch saved the life of a man in the U.K. in June 2015 by alerting him about his low heart rate. Scott Thomas told Daily Mail that because of the alerts given out by the watch, he went to his doctor and subsequently underwent a surgery for his condition. He credited the device with saving his life.

Read : 42 Percent Of Smart Home Speaker Owners Have More Than One Device, Report Says

According to realtor Dustin Brohm, even Internet-of-things devices such as smart light bulbs like Philips Hue can save lives by flashing red lights for the hearing impaired during an emergency. These lights might even alert neighbours or passersby of any danger in the house. In case you are not home, they will also coordinate with smart cameras and the Nest Protect system to alert you of any danger.

Not just that, they can also coordinate with other smart devices such as smart smoke alarms from Nest in case of a fire.