This device always has your back
Sean Siembab is the founder of .simstechnology, a Warren, R.I.-based company that has developed a wearable device that alerts the wearer when someone is approaching them from behind and posing as a potential threat.
Q. What is the .simstechnology device and how does it work?
Siembab: It’s a wearable device I started working on about seven years ago that alerts you when someone is approaching you from behind. It clips on the back of your clothes, backpack, or other accessories and can be hooked up, via Bluetooth, to your smartwatch, iPhone, or other smartphone, and earbuds, which are the various ways that it can alert you.
Q. How did you come up with this idea?
A. I’m a former correctional officer. I was involved in an assault where someone attacked me from behind in the prison I worked in. During that time, I was hit in the head and ended up with a traumatic brain injury. During my rehabilitation period, I was on a local bike path and was walking with my headphones in and listening to music when a gentleman on a bicycle was behind me and he must have said “to your left” and I didn’t hear him, totally unaware of my surroundings. He ended up hitting me from behind, and while I walked away without any injuries, I was totally alarmed. I figured there had to be something out there to alert someone that someone was approaching them from behind.
Q. Who is this device made for?
A. We have begun focusing on women runners so we can empower more women to be able to get outdoors and enjoy their daily activities without having to constantly look over their shoulders. Adidas came out with a study that said more than 90 percent of women that go out alone to exercise do it in fear and are scared of potential issues that could arise. We already have some great tools out there, including the Birdie and Mace. But if someone ever catches you from behind, you won’t always have the opportunity to use those tools or defend yourself if you’re caught off guard. Our device gives you more time to respond to the alert.
Outside of exercise purposes, correctional officers, warehouse workers, security professionals, and others could use this device.
Q. Other than alerting you of potential threats, what else does the device do?
A. The device has a camera that continuously takes photos each second. It also has built in GPS and ` systems for Apple and Android products through the app. In the app, you add three emergency contacts so that whenever you feel unsafe, or if you think that someone is there to attack you, you have time to react and turn around and an alert immediately goes out to your three contacts with your exact GPS location.
If someone is actually assaulted and the device is smashed or broken, the GPS location and camera captures images that automatically go to the cloud and are saved. This gives authorities a better idea of where the incident occurred and who was around when it did.
Q. What’s the range of the device?
A. We have a range from zero to 500 feet. That’s not realistic, but the device itself detects at 40 feet, which is when it will start to recognize that a person is approaching you.
Q. The website says this device is currently available for preorder. When do you plan to make it public?
A. We are currently testing the product with our engineers from an outside company that have helped us develop the product. We will be debuting our prototypes at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas from Jan. 9 through Jan. 12.
We’re not yet sure if we’re doing a strategic partnership with a manufacturing company, or possibly be acquired by one of the bigger companies that are interested, or if we’ll license this and take it from there. But it’s our goal to have these out in the field in 2024.
Q. Do you have any investors?
A. We’ve raised friends’ and family money to get it to where it is today. We don’t have any outside investors, nor do we have debt on the company. For this device, we have three utility patents that we own.
Q. How much do you plan on charging for the devices?
A. They’ll retail for about $199. Then they’ll be $79 annually for a subscription, which covers the cloud storage.