Google's new Trusted Contacts app is a way for people to achieve both valuable piece of mind and real-world safety in an emergency situation. The app lets users connect their smartphones to their loved ones, letting them know whether that user needs help in a potential emergency.
With the Trusted Contacts app, users assign "trusted" status to various contacts in their phones, such as parents, siblings, or close friends. Those people will be able to see vague indicators of safety at any time. For instance, if someone has spent the day at work or home, they are likely not in any danger -- the Trusted Contacts app will thus label the user as safe (without disclosing their actual location.) If the person is potentially in danger, they can share their precise location and the contacts can then alert the authorities.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Personal Safety Apps
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Develop personal safety apps with real-time location sharing to provide users with peace of mind and emergency assistance.
- Real-time Location Sharing
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Create platforms that enable real-time location sharing to enhance personal safety and facilitate emergency response.
- Emergency Response Technology
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Build innovative technologies to improve emergency response systems and ensure the safety of individuals in dangerous situations.
Where This Applies
- Mobile App Development
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Invest in mobile app development to create personal safety apps that provide users with valuable features and enhance their safety.
- Safety and Security
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Explore innovative solutions in safety and security industries to develop products that protect individuals and improve emergency response.
- Telecommunications
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Utilize telecommunications technologies to enable real-time communication and location sharing for personal safety and emergency response.
