SAN ANTONIO – A recent University of the Incarnate Word graduate is gaining significant attention for a device he says could revolutionize how first responders locate victims during natural disasters.
Enrique Gomez Jackson, who graduated in May, developed “Earth Live,” a GPS-enabled smart bracelet designed to help emergency crews track individuals in real time, even when cell towers and Wi-Fi networks are down.
Gomez Jackson said he is “extremely confident” that “Earth Live” would have been beneficial during the Hill Country floods.
He said he believes “Earth Live” could have significantly shortened rescue efforts. Gomez Jackson referenced the survivors and victims of Camp Mystic as an example.
“If all of the girls had been wearing ‘Earth Live’ at the moment, the search and rescue efforts would have taken hours instead of days,” he said. “It would have transmitted the location of the girls to a satellite every 60 seconds.”
His prototype recently took first place in a global STEM competition hosted by Viasat, which specializes in satellite internet. The contest drew more than 9,000 submissions worldwide.
The bracelet uses satellite-based GPS tracking to share a person’s location, bypassing damaged or unavailable local infrastructure.
Gomez Jackson said the device will also be capable of storing critical medical data, such as blood type, information that can be life-saving in a crisis.
“Whenever there’s a natural disaster, cellular coverage and Wi-Fi networks are often the first things to go down because infrastructure gets damaged,” he said.
Gomez Jackson received a $15,000 award from Viasat to further develop the device, which he hopes will be market-ready in the next few years.
“Our ultimate goal is to become the standard for global response in terms of technology between victims and emergency responders,” Gomez Jackson said.
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