Entrepreneurs hail their social-distancing device
Two Bath schoolmates have invented a wristband that they say is the “solution” to social distancing problems in schools.
Harry Kimberley-bowen and Ronan Finnegan, both 25, set up the firm Spacebands in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
After speaking with friends who are primary school teachers, they found there was a big issue around the safety of people returning to school when effective social distancing is a very difficult task.
The best friends, who went to St Gregory’s Catholic College in Bath, have created the bands which are programmed to light up, vibrate, and beep when a pupil gets too close to another person also wearing a SPACEBAND.
Harry says they are funding the project from their own pockets and the product was officially launched at the end of June.
“Spacebands are a wearable alert system for effective social distancing in classroom and playground environments. Designed for all children, teachers, and support staff to wear at school,” said Harry. “Until now, implementing safe social distancing in the classroom has been an impossible task - Spacebands solve this issue.”
Harry said Spacebands are rechargeable using any USB port and the app keeps a log of which devices have broken the rules so that you can contact trace within a controlled environment.
“Whilst Spacebands do not eliminate the risk of infection entirely, they help to lower the risk by reminding both the child and teacher that there should be distance between us during this uncertain time,” he said. “The use of our bands help to settle shared worries and anxieties that all parents, teachers, children and the government share.
“If a child puts themselves in danger, an alert from the band will notify the teacher and student that they need to adjust their positioning. The light continuously flashes blue when the child’s a safe distance from any other wristband, but will vibrate, flash red and beep when a child gets too close to another person. Devices are set to alert with or without a beep/vibrate - this is customisable.” He added they work in accordance with government advice and guidelines.
The duo, who run the business in Bristol, has an impressive CV in social enterprise. Harry won the Santander Young Entrepreneurship Award 2019 and the Harvey Goldsmith Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2019. Ronan has done a TED talk and he won TALKTALK’S Digital Fundraising Hero award in 2014 for his work in the technology and charity sectors.