By- Eran Eshed
All of you parents out there, I want you to close your eyes and imagine the following scenario. Your teenage son or daughter is getting ready to go out for the evening with friends. You want to give your kid some freedom, but you are also a bit concerned about where exactly he or she might wind up that night.
As many times as your child may have promised to go straight to the movies and then home again, you know your child, and you are getting the unshakeable sense that there may be something else planned. As you may have already learned, teenagers aren’t always reliable. So rather than risk the child’s well-being, you set an early curfew or forbid him or her to leave the house at all. Predictably, your teenager voices his or her dissenting opinion quite loudly.
But what if there was a way to strike a compromise? What if you could give your child the freedom to enjoy a night out with friends without constantly worrying? I assure you, I’m not talking about some magical fantasy land for parents. I’m talking about the potential power of wearable M2M devices and geofencing technology.
Geofencing refers to the ability to set geographical boundaries through software. For instance, if your child was outfitted with a wearable machine to machine (M2M) device—like a smart watch, fitness band or even an article of clothing or jewelry—you could sync the connected wearable to your mobile phone so that you received an alert any time your child stepped outside designated safe regions. In other words, you can wave goodbye to those anxious nights sitting at home wondering where your son or daughter may be.
Wearable M2M devices and geofencing have other practical uses as well. For example, in a large warehouse where specific areas are restricted to only those workers certified to use heavy machinery, wearable vests or hardhats could alert supervisors to unauthorized personnel entering the restricted space. In this scenario, companies could significantly increase worker safety, decrease the number of warehouse accidents and potentially even lower insurance rates.
Single-mode LTE is helping to drive the M2M market forward by offering high quality, ubiquitous connectivity at low prices.
So whether you are a parent concerned about your child’s safety or an industrial manufacturer looking to keep your employees safe, you can look forward to a future where wearable technology and geofencing can provide practical solutions to these real-world challenges.
Eran Eshed is Co-Founder of Altair Semiconductor and, as VP of Marketing and Business Development, has been instrumental in positioning Altair as the leading developer and supplier of single-mode LTE chipsets.
Prior to co-founding Altair, Eran developed a wealth of telecommunications, business and marketing experience. As Director of Marketing for Texas Instruments’ Cable Modem business unit, he was responsible for all marketing activities including creating and implementing strategic revenue plans, managing major accounts, as well as sales and channel development activities for OEM and ODM customers across North America and Asia.
Before joining Texas Instruments, Eran spent eight years in hardware and silicon development and management positions at several startups including Libit Signal Processing. He holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the Tel Aviv University.
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