"Emergency Video Calls" is an entry into Google's "Project 10100" (pronounced "Project 10 to the 100th"). Google have committed US$10 million for up to five projects that are designed to help people.
My cooker is on fire!In an emergency, many people will have difficulties when trying to communicate with the operator. Some callers may be left completely speechless by the situation.
What, exactly, might a caller mean when they say "My cooker is on fire!"...
   Different emergencies require different responses, and sometimes words are not enough.
FAQQ: What exactly would the system do?A: In it's most basic form, an "Emergency Video Calls" system would allow emergency services call centres (eg 9-9-9 / 9-1-1 centres) to receive and record video calls directly from mobile phones (3G or above). Seeing what the caller sees would give the call centre operators unprecedented insight into the nature of the emergency, and open up new ways to communicate with all callers, including those from special needs groups. The recorded footage from the scene may help investigations after the event.
A more advanced form of the system would include tighter integration with the emergency services, whereby the operator could stream video directly to and from the emergency service workers' mobile phones, PDAs and PCs through a secure web portal.
Other possibilities would include relaying calls from the hearing impaired to a sign language interpreter, who may not even be in that particular call centre. Basic sentences and instructions in various languages might be displayed on screen for non-native speakers. First aid instructions might be shown graphically. There are many ways in which this system can be modified to improve accessibility.
Q: What problems does this system address?A: Search Google for 9-1-1 calls and you will hear many examples of how hard it is for people to communicate the nature of an emergency over the phone to the operators. The addition of live video bypasses the language barrier faced by many in emergency situations, which, in turn, saves lives.
Descriptions of criminals are often inaccurate. Low quality time-lapse security cameras on ceilings can be ineffective. The potential for a criminal’s face to be broadcast to and recorded by emergency services would be a huge deterrent, as well as helping with identifying and convicting criminals.
Citizens who witness crime on the street find it hard to intervene. For many people now, the only way to feel safe or empowered in certain districts is to carry a weapon. This will change. The ability to make 9-1-1 video calls would empower the general public to do the right thing and help stop criminals.
A: Anyone who may have problems communicating over the phone ~
~ Young children, elderly, the mentally or physically disabled, the deaf or hearing impaired, and non-native language speakers need emergency services as much as, if not more than other members of the public. This upgrade would grant them equal access.
Emergency services ~
~ Police, ambulance crews, firefighters, and other members of the emergency services would have their jobs made easier as they would be able to arrange appropriate responses to emergencies based on live and recorded video footage, as well as location information transmitted by mobile phones.
Victims of crime ~
~ Increased availability of recorded video evidence would increase apprehensions and criminal convictions. People do not usually commit crime if they think that they are likely to be caught and convicted, so there is the very real potential for reducing levels of street crime and benefiting communities around the world. Q: How can we help?A: Firstly, I would love to hear any comments or suggestions that you may have about "Emergency Video Calls". You can either email them to cantorock@gmail.com
, or you can leave comments on our YouTube page.
Secondly, I hope that by increasing the profile of "Emergency Video Calls", we might increase our chances of winning Google funding. The final 100 entries will chosen first, before the public vote for the 20 best ideas. Hopefully, the more people know about our project, the better the chances of it being made a reality. Please share this page with your friends, and watch and rate our YouTube video.
Thirdly, please vote for "Emergency Video Calls"! :)
Q: Is the system available yet?A: The system is still in very early stages of development. It has recently been entered into the Google Project 10100 competition for funding and development. The results of this competition will be released early next year. You can help support our entry by voting for us :)
The technology itself is available and has been around for some time. The main point is that it has never been combined in this way before. The vast majority of 3G+ mobile phones have integrated video call functionality. You can see from websites such as YouTube how easy it it to record and stream video these days. This system is just an extension of technologies already on the market.
Q: What is Project 10100?A: Google set up Project 10100 to find, fund and develop projects that will help as many people as possible. They have set aside US$10 million for funding and will chose up to five projects to develop further.
Of course, winning this competition would help make "Emergency Video Calls" a reality in the very near future, but even if we don't come first, this is still a great opportunity to raise awareness of how this technology can help save lives.
Feel free to search through other entries into this competition online. A quick YouTube search for "Project 10^100" will bring up many videos from the other entrants. I'm sure that there are plenty of products (including ours) which are worth voting for.
You learn more about Project 10100 on ProjectTenToTheHundred.com |
Bookmark / Share
Add this page to favourites
Share this page with friends |
A Video is Worth a Thousand Words |