First responders and emergency personnel often have their hands full in the field. To help deliver them the information they need without requiring them to divert their attention from the task at hand, Motorola Solutions, the data communications and telecommunications equipment provider that spun off Motorola Mobility in 2011, is launching what it describes as a virtual assistant for first responders dubbed ViQi.
ViQi, which launches today as a part of Motorola Solutions’ APX Next public radio offering, enables users to retrieve information from cloud-hosted databases using natural language interactions. Commands like “ViQi, run a license plate” any one of the 95 frequent, high-volume searches ViQi supports, including those for drivers’ licenses, license plates, and vehicle identification numbers. Future versions of ViQi will integrate new database and take notes, as well as translate foreign languages and call for vehicle assistance.
In this way, ViQi isn’t unlike Orion Labs’ Panic Bot, a voice assistant made especially for first responders, miners, hotel maids, and others whose work environment sometimes calls for them to be independent or isolated from coworkers. Orion is also developing natural language services that that recognize wake words to automate workflows in the less-than-ideal conditions first responders have to operate in with walkie talkies.
Separately, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory developed Audrey (Assistant for Understanding Data through Reasoning, Extraction and Synthesis), which collects thousands of data points from sensors on first responders’ protective equipment and a suite of plugin tools to perform useful tasks. Operating on a phone-like device, it’s able to correct drugs and dosages, transcribe and analyze photographs and documents, and automatically complete paramedic treatment records while recognizing and interpreting jargon.
Even Amazon’s Alexa is being used to furnish emergency medical teams with mission-critical information hands-free. Massachusetts-based Brewster Ambulance Service announced this year that it intends to install Echo Dots in several of its vehicles to give personnel a quick way to consult treatment information. It’s a voice-activated alternative to the roughly 300-page reference materials and procedure manuals the ambulances currently carry.
“APX NEXT was created after more than 2000 hours of extensive field research and testing with numerous law enforcement agencies,” said Motorola Solutions senior vice president of products Scott Mottonen. “We know that first responders need technology to be intuitive and intelligent to allow them to remain eyes up, hands free and focused in any situation.”
Motorola Solutions’ APX Next features a touchscreen that’s water resistant and that responds to swipes even through gloves. It offers one-touch access to radio controls and a user interface optimized for fast navigation, and it’s compatible with FirstNet, a domestic broadband public safety network being built with AT&T in public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority.
APX Next and the ViQi assistant are scheduled to be demoed at the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference in Chicago later this month, after which they’ll become available through Motorola Solutions’ existing sales channels.
Author: Kyle Wiggers
Source: Venturebeat
