The worlds smallest GPS tracking device for kids was unveiled recently in Las Vegas Nevada. hereO is a small and colourful watch designed for children aged three and over, created with the intention of allowing parents to monitor their children’s whereabouts at all times.
hereO works alongside a mobile app available for download from the iTunes store and for Android. It provided parents with real time information on their children’s location, issues safe zone alerts, and allows for a group messaging facility.
According to co founder and president Daniel Ivesha, hereO is “not only a game-changer in child safety technology but in the way families stay connected.”
In addition to offering parents real time and historical location information, hereO’s other security features include; safe zone alerts where a parent can see when their child arrives or departs a designated safe zone, panic alerts which allow the child to send parents a notification containing their immediate locations in case of emergency, and a tamper alert, which lets parents know instantly when an unauthorised person tries to remove the watch. hereO watches can be pre-ordered online here, for €151.
The concept of tracking your children through GPS is a controversial one, with many parents still unsure of how beneficial such a device could be.
Daycare centers in Sweden have had GPS devices in place for tracking children since 2011. They use transmitter vests that members of daycare staff are then able to track on screen. Parents have expressed concern that the use of such technology in daycare facilities will result in a decrease in the number of staff assigned to care for the children.
Monica Blank-Hedqvist who is a principal of a daycare centre in Borlange has on more than one occasion spoken about how the technology is excellent, and has ‘only been positive’ for the centre.
The allure of GPS technology to monitor our families and loved ones appears to be growing in popularity in Ireland, with one Irish company WatchOvers, bringing a GPS tracking device to the market in 2015.
Similar to hereO, WatchOvers has introduced Caref, the Care for Family watch-phone.
Caref claims to offer parents dependable satellite technology.
Features of the watch-phone include real-time tracking, SOS emergency alarm, two way voice communication, one way text messaging, geo-fencing safe zones, location history, listening monitoring and alert messaging in the watch format. These watches are available for pre order here for a price of €129.
Irish schools have also recently taken to informing parents about GPS tracking devices for their phones, so parents can have a better knowledge about the whereabouts of their children.
One school in south county Dublin informed parent’s about the CRI, Child Rescue Ireland Alert App, available for download in android and iTunes stores.
CRI, it tells them, has two distinct functions: the first feature ‘Active CRI Alerts’, enables you to receive a notification of a CRI Alert when it is launched. The second feature ‘My Children,’ is for parents to securely store their own child’s details on their mobile phones.
