Following on from the concept of the Public Warning Network Challenge, the proposal is for a radio-pager type device, operating on a single internationally-reserved frequency, triggered by a network of localised low power transmitters.

The device will be made literally in billions, so economies of scale will be good. It will be equipped with photovoltaic units to prolong battery life, and be powered by a standard AA battery (alkaline or rechargeable), with facilities for external charging by a hand-cranked generator or mains power source or large solar array.

The device will have a simple textual LCD display and be programmable for the owner's native language. The codes that trigger the text messages will conform to international standards.

Commercial mobile phones would be marketed with this facility built in, but there are may areas of the planet that do not have coverage for phones; the "pager" system would still work in these areas. Phones would be unnecessarily expensive for the bulk of the population of the planet.

When a natural disaster threatens or occurs, the local transmitter sends a code appropriate to the threat. The user receives the message "TSUNAMI" or "TORNADO" or FLOOD" as appropriate and takes action.

Visitors from outside the area who may not know the meaning of sirens or radio announcements will still get the correct message since the code translates into their own language.

Thes devices will be issued to the entire world population free of charge by the UN on a one per household basis, with additional units being available at cost. The programme will be financed by the UN charging military and commercial users for the use of satellite orbits on a per-anum basis. Scientific space users will be exempt from charges.
-- 8th of 7, Aug 06 2008

Public Warning Network Challenge http://www.isoc.org/challenge/
Any ideas ? [8th of 7, Aug 06 2008]

Common Alerting Protocol http://www.isoc.org...ission_20080704.pdf
Under development [8th of 7, Aug 06 2008]

4M chip _274M_27_20Chip
Similar idea, but not identical. [8th of 7, Aug 06 2008]

Emergency radios emergency_20radios
Not quite as good. [8th of 7, Aug 06 2008]

Freeplay Foundation http://www.freeplay...k-ZQCFSY1agodfw9crQ
[Klaatu, Aug 06 2008]

"THE END IS NIGH"

Actually I think this is better as an add-on service for mobile phones, especially when you think of the large parts of the developing world who are not bothering with installing expensive wire-in-the-ground conventional phone systems but are adopting wireless cellular phone technology as their primary phone system.
-- hippo, Aug 06 2008


No text/localization necessary - just show an icon of the impending disaster. Maybe the larger the icon, the closer the threat.

A series of icons with LEDs underneath eliminate the need for a display at all. An LED bar graph could show proximity.
-- phoenix, Aug 06 2008


Yes, for the illiterate, the display will also show a graphic of the type of threat.

The default mode of the device will be a graphic depiction, with a scrolling marquee below giving the name of the threat in all the languages the device knows.

The proximity bar is a good idea.

For residents of London, the "FLOOD" alert will be replaced by a message saying, "Don't worry, nothing's wrong. Stay where you are."
-- 8th of 7, Aug 06 2008


Actually, I think this is a great idea with great annos. [+]. You may be able to interest the people over at the freeplay foundation who are doing great things with radios. <link> Their mission:

The Freeplay Foundation aims to:

· facilitate sustained access to information and education for the poorest of the poor, especially children, women, refugees and the disabled.
· raise awareness of the role of radio broadcasting and communication in developing countries, disaster areas and regions of conflict.
· research opportunities where appropriate and alternative sources of energy can be applied to improve the lives of people in developing communities, especially children living on their own.
· seek sponsorship to initiate and support humanitarian communication initiatives.
-- Klaatu, Aug 06 2008


"Why he say duck? We are not ducks."
-- normzone, Aug 06 2008


ZIMBABWE : SOCIAL UNREST : FAMINE : WAR

SUGGEST : RUN
-- wagster, Aug 06 2008


[Wagster] sorry, but SOCIAL UNREST is not a horseman.
-- zeno, Aug 08 2008


// SOCIAL UNREST is not a horseman //

He may not yet be an official Horesman like Death, Famine, War or Pestilence, but he's got a Pony Club membership and a hopeful expression on his face .....
-- 8th of 7, Aug 08 2008


I didn't know ZIMBABWE was a horseman. But I've only met three.
-- Amos Kito, Aug 08 2008


"VAGUE FEELING OF ENNUI"
-- hippo, Aug 08 2008


Insert conspiracy theories about tracking devices here.

Is there a reason this can't be done by broadcasting text messages to cell phones and sounding sirens? You hear a siren, you ask someone what's going on.

Also, as long as we're broadcasting information about natural disasters, how about the time and weather too?
-- Bukkakinator, Aug 08 2008


"Insert conspiracy theories about tracking devices here."
No tracking necessary. They can just pick up a signal and light up a display.
-- phoenix, Aug 08 2008


Here in the U.S. we've got the National Weather Service radio system. The radios kick on a message when there's a weather situation, here in Oklahoma that's usually "TORNADO". This just tells me that this idea is pretty well do-able, even in remote and undeveloped locales. Like Oklahoma.
-- Noexit, Aug 08 2008


It's do-able; but the idea is for a wearable device that works anywhere on your planet.

// conspiracy theories about tracking devices //

As [phoenix] says, they're just receivers; no tracking involved. Much simpler and lower power than cellphones, too. GSM phones need lots of trasmitter sites because the SHF frequencies don't propagate well; pages can use fewer, lower power, longer range transmitters.
-- 8th of 7, Aug 08 2008



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