The Noonlight app says that she can do more.

One of the most remarkable features of the Apple Watch Series 4 is the one you never hope to use: fall detection. After detecting a person who has fallen, the device verifies if the person has actually fallen, if all is well and if he needs emergency services. This is the 21^stCentennial version of Life Alert, but integrated with a popular computer hardware. This is a step beyond Apple's SOS function, which makes the watch useful in emergency situations, but the detection of falls is still limited. Falls are a specific type of event and the watch's detection feature is not automatically activated unless you are over 65 years old.

The use of technology by Apple Watch has made headlines, but other companies have worked on similar ideas. Some try to go much further and cover a range of situations. While 3 million adults are treated each year for fall-related injuries, more than twice that number is involved in auto collisions – not to mention bike accidents and incidents involving scooters. A smartphone app based on a more comprehensive approach to accident detection is a personal security application called Noonlight. It aims to take into account all these types of accidents and connect you to emergency services, whether you are on foot, two-wheelers or four, in case of an accident.

Noonlight detects what it calls a "decisive event" using a mix of data from your GPS, accelerometer and gyroscope. His algorithms compare the measurements of this event with the data he's collected, including billions of kilometers of Zendrive's car driver data. If these forces correspond to those generally observed during a fall or a crash, the application goes into action mode.

When a failure is detected, the app will ping you by phone or SMS to check if everything is fine. If you do not answer with your PIN, the app dispatchers will contact the emergency services on your behalf if you do not answer. It usually takes two minutes for Noonlight dispatchers to contact and transfer information to the emergency services.

Noonlight (originally called SafeTrek) started as an alternative to campus blue phones. "We thought it was ridiculous that if you had to deal with an emergency, you had to run to a post on campus and hang out until help was available," says Nick Droege , founder of Noonlight. The application that she has developed can contact emergency services on your behalf, bridging the gap between older 911 systems and the age of smartphones. When this is the case, it shares a link to the browser with emergency personnel that provides your location and relevant personal information (allergies, medical conditions and other information that you have previously entered). While landlines share the same call location, many emergency systems can not identify the location of a person who is calling by cell phone. IOS and Android are now working on solutions to the problem. Unlike these integrated solutions, Noonlight uses its own dispatchers, which mediate between users and emergency services. This allows application users to send messages to users in uncomfortable situations, for example if they walk alone late at night, and reduce the risk of false positives (a problem that occurs when users are not able to use it). was problematic at the beginning of the SOS feature of Apple Watch). , when accidentally dialing emergency services and connecting lines 911).

Noonlight's accident detection capability comes as the growing adoption of scooters results in the first scooter accident reports in metropolitan areas such as Dallas and San Francisco. Cycling incidents are also on the rise as more and more people have started cycling, both for transportation and for recreation. Depending on the severity of the accident, a person may not be able to call 911, and those present, if any, may not contact the emergency services immediately. The application also fills a gap in existing services. Similar services, such as Strava Beacon, Garmin LiveTrack or iOS Location Sharing, allow you to share your location information with a loved one, but they include no sort of accident detection. If your point stops moving on the map, it's hard to tell if you've just stopped to chat with a friend for 10 minutes or if you're stuck after a fall. Some products, such as CrashDetect and SOSmart, focus exclusively on detection and assistance in case of a car accident, which is useful for driving, but not so much if you are hiking, running or cycling. Others specifically target seniors and the issue of falls, such as Apple Watch or Philips AutoAlert. Noonlight aims to adapt to any type of accident.

Noonlight has its advantages and disadvantages. It's not free: Noonlight's crash detection capabilities are part of its premium service, which costs $ 9.99 a month. (His free service is essentially a panic button that you can use to contact his dispatchers.) He must also have access to your location and other onboard sensors to monitor these sensors for signs of trouble. ;incident. for some people. But for those who travel often, do exercise or move alone, the application could provide an indispensable safety net. If an incident or other emergency occurs, you will know that as long as you have a cellular connection, the help will eventually be forwarded.

The detection of falls is definitely a step forward for the Apple Watch. It turns the passive data tracking device into active help during a painful incident. It's a new way for mobile devices to deliver on their promise to use your data forever – by leveraging the knowledge they've accumulated over millions of hours of use to improve your life and protect you . Applications like Noonlight go further. Maybe in the not-too-distant future, we'll see phones and smartwatches incorporating this type of functionality. For now, you can at least download it yourself.