Abu Dhabi: A group of students at UAE University (UAEU) are developing a device which they say can help prevent drowning, with the device sending signals when a swimmer is in danger of drowning.
“We are trying to produce an electronic bracelet which can be fixed on the swimmer’s hand will try to capture and analyse some variables of the swimmer, and measure how consistent it is with the movement,” said Saifeldden Hatim, a Jordanian student who is working on the device along with two Emirati students, Nasser Al Darmaki and Nasser Al Teneeji.
“The readings will be compared with standard readings for professional swimmers. They will then be categorised into cases that are in doubt of drowning, and confirmed drowning. What distinguishes our product from the existing ones on the market is the prediction phase,” Hatim added.
Hatim said that these readings will be able to be monitored on a tablet by lifeguards, allowing them to know when a swimmer is in distress.
“It allows the lifeguard to reach the swimmer if he is drowning, so we are reducing the time between the case detection and drowning. The device offers a monitoring system design which predicts drowning” before it actually happens and improve lifeguards’ preparedness to accomplish their jobs.
“The data will be displayed on a tablet for the lifeguard, where each swimmer’s case will be represented by a dot. Each swimmer’s case will be determined by the colour of his dot,” Hatim explained.
The students plan to integrate artificial intelligence to handle the prediction by comparing the captured data with the standard ones. The device is currently in its proof-of-concept phase with the team working on gathering as much data as possible.
“We are following social media and the news in general, and observed that recently, drowning cases involving children below the age of 14 are a lot more in the UAE than around the world. Globally, 360,000 people die every year because of drowning, which is a lot. The number equals the population of the Maldives.
“So, yearly, we are losing capabilities that can run a whole country. We are targeting children because, according to statistics in the United States, almost two children die every day [because of drowning],” he added.
