Shoe-mounted Landmine Detector Could Save Lives

saveonelife

Landmines are scourges of mankind, taking hundreds of lives each year, often decades after they were placed and forgotten. There are efforts underway worldwide to get rid of them, but it’s a slow process and an uphill battle. In Columbia, years of guerrilla warfare and narcotrafficking have driven the country to have the world’s second highest concentration of land mines. So it’s no surprise that Lemur Studio, a design firm in Bogotá, developed concept product called SaveOneLife, which hopes to increase personal survival rates for those living in high risk areas. The device is a shoe-mounted metal detector that connects with a small wristband. The wristband would then vibrate when it detects potential danger, and indicate the mine’s general direction. Aimed at troops, illicit crop eradicators and farmers, SaveOneLife is still in the design phase and the studio is looking for funding and support. There’s no timeline for any of this, but it’s a worthwhile project and we wish them luck.

[ Concept Page ] VIA [ DVice ]

Smartphone-powered mine detectors readied for field-testing in Cambodia (video)

Smarphonebased metal detectors

Red Lotus Technologies is now refining and pitching its PETALS technology for real-world use around the world. Short for Pattern Enhancement Tool for Assisting Landmine Sensing, the system connects acoustic sensors to smartphones, outputting a silhouette of what lies below onto the phone's screen. The company has expanded from an initial research project that paired mine-detecting sensors with the processing clout (and availability of) smartphones. It's now developed some tablet-based training equipment for de-miners and, working alongside the Landmine Relief Fund, aims to field-test the devices in Cambodia before launching them next year.

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Smartphone-powered mine detectors readied for field-testing in Cambodia (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 08 Sep 2012 03:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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