During yesterday’s Made By Google event, the technology company announced the arrival of their latest Pixel devices — with a particular focus on their first ever Pixel Watch.
Google’s new Pixel Watch will place a priority on health, safety, and wellness through an exciting new set of features including continuous heart rate measurement, sleep monitoring, and more. Perhaps most exciting was the announcement that the Pixel Watch will also include Emergency SOS on launch and fall detection in early 2023.
The arrival of Google’s new devices and their wide array of safety features present a significant opportunity for first responders and emergency call centers to leverage new data to help them save lives.
In case you didn’t get a chance to follow along with the event or are otherwise unfamiliar with Google’s safety features, we’ve provided a quick breakdown below:
New Pixel Watch to Arrive with Emergency SOS
In the event of an emergency, Pixel Watch users can use Emergency SOS on their device to connect them to emergency services. To activate Emergency SOS, the user can press the crown 5 times on their device to place a call to 911. If the local ECC is integrated with RapidSOS, they will be provided the user’s location data via Android Emergency Location Services (ELS).
Fall Detection Coming to the Pixel Watch this Winter
Fall detection for the Pixel Watch reflects the latest continuation in a long line of safety features that Google uses to provide first responders with life-saving data and their customers with a safer way to live their daily lives.
Arriving this winter through a software update, the new Pixel Watch is able to detect particularly hard falls and, if they choose, helps connect users to emergency services.
Google’s Long History of Innovative Safety Features
The Pixel Watch’s safety features are only the latest additions to Google’s long list of existing features that connect users, and their data, with first responders and emergency services.
Some additional Google safety features include:
- Crash Detection – In the event of a car accident, Pixel phones will detect the accident, ring, vibrate, and ask the user if they need help on their phone screen and out loud. If the user requests emergency assistance, speakerphone is automatically enabled and the user is connected to emergency services. If the user says “cancel” or taps an “I am Ok” button on their phone, their phone will not make an emergency call. If the user does not respond within 60 seconds, their phone will contact emergency services.
- Emergency Sharing – By enabling emergency sharing, users can enter a list of contacts that will be allowed to view and track the user’s location.
- Safety Check – In the instance that they feel unsafe, a Pixel phone user can schedule their device to check in on them and let their emergency contacts know if they were unable to respond or marked themselves as unsafe.
More Data and Opportunity to Save Lives
We regularly hear from our ECC partners about incidents in which Google devices and critical data available via the RapidSOS Platform (location, health/medical info, etc.) have helped first responders save lives. With Google’s announcement this week, we are excited about how these new devices will provide first responders with more information during emergencies.
Interested in learning more about these new safety features and how they work?
Talk to a RapidSOS expert today.