Necessity is the mother of invention.
Isaac Daniel got a call one day in 2002 that his son was missing from school. He immediately flew to Atlanta from New York (where he had been on business) to find the incident had been a miscommunication and his son was safe.
Days later, the trauma of it all became grist for the invention mill. Daniels, an engineer, began working on a Global Positioning Sneaker. And now his Quantum Satellite Technology is available to the world.
Those who experience medical issues such as Alzheimer's , dementia , brain injury , intellectual or developmental disabilities , fugue or dissociative disorders , for example, can access this technology for which medical insurance may foot the bill (punny, yes I know).
And parents who want to keep a tab on their kids will have to shell out over $300 for the footwear. And keep in mind that there is a 19.95 monthly monitoring fee. Hopefully the price will come down because that sure is a chunk of change for peace of mind.
Still in all, smart man, great invention!
.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Global Positioning Sneakers
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28 comments:
Is there such a technology for the cell phone? Kids are never far from their phones.....
Haven't visited you in awhile. Nice to see you are back. How were your holidays?
I admire him and his motives, though I hope somebody doesn't figure how to cause mischief with this technology....
Also I wonder how hard it would be to disable the device if the children know they are there. Kids with the determination for mischief can be incredibly clever! Still a great idea, especially for those with handicaps like mentioned, or for small children who tend to wander off a lot.
Hey Dr Deb!
I don't have children to worry about and for, but I think that this gentleman channeling his fear into something that can help others is a great thing! The shoes seem costly, but really can we put a price on the safety and well-being of our loved ones..?
I say, you go inventor :):)
Angel
I love the idea of this!
I spent hours on the phone with various "spy" store staff learning about new tracking technology for kids when there was a rash of abductions near our former city,this would have been perfect back then!
Working where I do.... I can think of a lot of ways that this is a helpful and useful idea..
thinking the way I do... I can think of at least as many reasons that it scares me...
Problem is that when my kids where in their growth spurt, I'd end up changing their shoes twice a year. At 300$ a pop this soon becomes some serious change.
Had my parents invested in those sneakers, I would've refused to wear them! But I suppose in medical situations the could be useful.
Yes indeed, that's a great invention. What would they think of next? Smile. God bless. Have a nice day.
This freaks me out a little. For the medical situations you mentioned, I can see why it's a good idea, but for kids... I don't know, it just doesn't sit well. They are either young enough that you should be watching them or old enough you should give them some independence, in my opinion. It's not that hard to change your shoes!
Dear Misha,
Yes, this technology is available in cell phones.
Dear Barbara,
Vacation was lovely. Hope you are doing well yourself :)
Dear Todd,
Ah, yes. Evil does lurk everywhere. I love the idea of the medical piece, but I share your concern for mischief makers.
Dear Aimee,
I'm sure there are ways to disable the technology. And for those who have medical psychological issues, they have to WEAR the sneakers. Sometimes, compliance in that regard will be challenging.
Dear Angel,
The only thing I ever *invented* out of need was the paperless staple. (Making a hole in the paper and then weaving it around so it stays put). There were many times in school that I couldn't find a stapler or a paper clip. Apparently, they make devices for this now. If only I knew....
Dear Ms. L,
Technology is amazing. I think we will soon have little devices we can wear or carry like on Star Trek.
Dear KAth,
I hear you on both parts. Good always comes with the possibility of bad.
Dear BB,
Yeah, the price is not do-able for kids for that very reason.
Dear Beth,
Oh for sure. I'd never wear them either. But for medical psychological reasons, it could bring great peace of mind to many.
Dear Mel,
Necessity *is* the mother of invention!
Dear Guilt,
I so agree.
~Deb
I agree with the others that find this a little scary. Great for those with medical/wandering issues, impossible for growing kids, teens likely to refuse to wear them... for the abduction idea, how hard is it for someone to take the extra step of removing shoes and leaving them on the side of the road hours before anyone is noticed to be missing? I see a lot of potential for Big Brother type monitoring. It won't take long for someone to decide that everyone of a certain age group or hair color or national origin should be required to wear them!
There are certain things about this that make me nervous. There are definitely elements of big-brother in this technology.
That said, if I had a teenage child, they would probably have one in every shoe.
Misha, many of the new phones are equipped with GPS system. The technology is also in place to allow others (the government) to listen in through your phone, even when you aren't talking on it. Welcome to the new normal.
I can see it as a comforting thing. IF you have $300 and the monthly charge. However I remember MY kids growing out of their shoes in less than two months!! I think for a $300 price tag that should include all shoes the kid needs for a year time frame. And they all have a point- any kidnappers being hip to the shoe thing will just remove the kids shoes. In that case all the global positioning will do is tell you about the kids that havent been taken.
Gosh, I thought of an invention like this back in 1992, when a local girl was kidnapped. What a great idea, it's too bad only affluent parents will be able to afford it.
This is another one of those "why didn't I think of that" times. He had an idea and made it happen..the American dream :)
Though, I am such a complete tightwad I would NEVER pay that much for shoes--a day at the spa, now maybe :)
Not a bad invention, though I fear that it won't be too many more steps until the mark of the beast is required as prophesied in the book of Revelation.
Does it work on missing alters ?hehehee
Ohh my I can see the word "trouble" written all over this idea...
next step - realize sneakers can be disposed of - put a chip in the child. Pretty soon there are chipped adults. Big brother realizes the uses. Hackers hack into the GPS. Husbands and wifes can pay hackers to track each others bad behaviour. I dont see this as a good thing.........
Wow that is genious. For me as a parent it would be worth everything to me. Do you think my 19 year old will let me buy her those shoes? I don't think so?
Several years ago we had a guy at work with a new Sportster. We went home for the weekend, he didn't show up to work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...
As the sun went down on Wednesday a trucker noticed something shiny down in a ravine where two of our 4 lanes split up just north of work. He called the police, and the shiny thing was the Sportster with the guy's body not far away. He had either lost control or been run off the road, and was unconcious, but would have lived had someone found him.
It wasn't long after that I got my 2nd cell phone, and it was GPS capable. You could either turn the GPS tracking on or off; I gratefully turned it on, and made a point of telling my wife I had.
alan
I like the idea of this for medical use. For those that wander around a lot if they live in a harsh climate it could save their lives.
The technology has existed for a while, it's just the first I have seen it utilized in a way that would make insurance companies able to pay for it. *clap*
I'm confident that in the 12 years I have before my daughter becomes a teenager, someone will get the chip-in-the-back-of-the-neck thing right. heh.
I don't think anyone would be able to get on an airplane with those...
Hey all,
Computer troubles here, so I hope this posts. Interesting comments from all - as usual :)
~Deb
It's good, but at the same time, I think kids should be able to deviate from their routes a bit and not feel hovered over all the time. I'm seeing much too much skittishness in kids, and it's distressing. It's a hard trick to balance, isn't it?
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