11–20 of 123 posts
How often is the best earth-facing satellite imagery updated? It'd be really cool to sic handwriting recognition on it to continuously look for "SOS".
Call this a freely given and viable but hard to monetize idea - this is a very tractable area for software and drones. Same with locating people in lost wilderness areas. You have a programmatic way to organize coverage areas, you have access to above-human audio and video capabilities, and it reduces the resources/time ratio that is critical in rescues. This was the tragic and avoidable story that convinced me this…
Well, there are just personal locator beacons which you can rent and tell rescue personnel exactly where you are if you need a rescue.
Contracts typically have a call centre able to dispatch relevant local authorities wherever you are.
Call this a freely given and viable but hard to monetize idea - this is a very tractable area for software and drones. Same with locating people in lost wilderness areas. You have a programmatic way to organize coverage areas, you have access to above-human audio and video capabilities, and it reduces the resources/time ratio that is critical in rescues. This was the tragic and avoidable story that convinced me this…
Well, there are just personal locator beacons which you can rent and tell rescue personnel exactly where you are if you need a rescue.
Call this a freely given and viable but hard to monetize idea - this is a very tractable area for software and drones. Same with locating people in lost wilderness areas. You have a programmatic way to organize coverage areas, you have access to above-human audio and video capabilities, and it reduces the resources/time ratio that is critical in rescues. This was the tragic and avoidable story that convinced me this…
Or... a dude in a helicopter with FLIR? Sometimes, low tech is best, honestly. Of course they already have that. The problem isn't coverage usually, it's density of the terrain features and vegetation, and an unknown search radius in some cases. That, and unprepared people with no way to signal a search vehicle if one comes near. That's a human problem though, not a tech problem.
Call this a freely given and viable but hard to monetize idea - this is a very tractable area for software and drones. Same with locating people in lost wilderness areas. You have a programmatic way to organize coverage areas, you have access to above-human audio and video capabilities, and it reduces the resources/time ratio that is critical in rescues. This was the tragic and avoidable story that convinced me this…
Well, there are just personal locator beacons which you can rent and tell rescue personnel exactly where you are if you need a rescue.
I don't even do particularly intense hikes, usually not even overnight, but I read a few stories and realised how easy it is to end up in a situation where you need one. You just have to slip over and land badly, that's all it takes.
Or maybe it won't be me, but someone else on the trail who needs help.
And on another note, when you see things from an island scale, you can see that even at the size they drew those letters, it might've been missed. The world is big...
How often is the best earth-facing satellite imagery updated? It'd be really cool to sic handwriting recognition on it to continuously look for "SOS".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, there are just personal locator beacons which you can rent and tell rescue personnel exactly where you are if you need a rescue.
They're not even expensive to buy. I picked one up for a few hundred dollars for hiking. I believe it's good for 10 years, until the battery needs replacing. I don't even do particularly intense hikes, usually not even overnight, but I read a few stories and realised how easy it is to end up in a situation where you need one. You just have to slip over and land badly, that's all it takes. Or maybe it won't be me, but…
The "Into the Wild" bus comes to mind[1]. So many people died every year, attempting to forge rivers unprepared, and brave the harsh Alaskan elements, that they had to remove this bus! It wasn't enough that people died every year, and that most of them had practically zero harsh environment experience...
Nature will kill you every chance it gets. Be prepared, or don't go.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, there are just personal locator beacons which you can rent and tell rescue personnel exactly where you are if you need a rescue.
They're not even expensive to buy. I picked one up for a few hundred dollars for hiking. I believe it's good for 10 years, until the battery needs replacing. I don't even do particularly intense hikes, usually not even overnight, but I read a few stories and realised how easy it is to end up in a situation where you need one. You just have to slip over and land badly, that's all it takes. Or maybe it won't be me, but…
I like to go places with no cell signal, and when you're hours from the nearest paved road, it's nice to know that you can get airlifted out if you get bitten by a snake, etc.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, there are just personal locator beacons which you can rent and tell rescue personnel exactly where you are if you need a rescue.
They're not even expensive to buy. I picked one up for a few hundred dollars for hiking. I believe it's good for 10 years, until the battery needs replacing. I don't even do particularly intense hikes, usually not even overnight, but I read a few stories and realised how easy it is to end up in a situation where you need one. You just have to slip over and land badly, that's all it takes. Or maybe it won't be me, but…