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Lumifer comments on Open thread, Mar. 23 - Mar. 31, 2015 - Less Wrong
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Most forms of SOS signaling require you to be alive to push the button (there are some exceptions, e.g. some marine beacons automatically activate if you fall into water), but I found you another rationalization for a smartwatch :-) I haven't seen an actual app, but it should exist (or be trivially easy to program): monitor your pulse and if it drops to zero, start screaming its head off via email, SMS, FB messages, dial 911, call the Coast Guard, etc. etc.
So now your watchstrap gets snagged on a tree branch and falls off without your noticing -- and then it dials 911, calls the coast guard, etc. That could make you pretty unpopular.
One possibility: Designate one or more emergency contacts in case a pulse measurement drops to zero, who can text back to see if you're alright, if the battery's died, or whatnot; and who can /then/ decide to call out the cavalry.
I think smartwatches are smart enough to notice when they're not on your wrist any more.
P.S. Even without smartwatches, I would be greatly surprised if there is no remote-monitoring medical device which you strap onto yourself and which alerts someone if it thinks you're in trouble. The market for live-alone elderly people is huge.
Or you simply take it off.
I don't recall yet finding a phone-watch with a reliable pulse sensor. That may be because it's a feature I wasn't looking for, but it's also possible that such a product doesn't yet exist.
You can probably just use one of the fitness bracelets (Fitbit style) and sync them to your phone. I don't know how reliable they are, but one of their explicit purposes is recording your heart rate during exercise.
Losing the heart rate connection for a few seconds during exercising isn't a big deal.
The old tech with chest straps certainly loses signals from time to time. I'm not sure about the newer tech, but I would doubt that you get cheap tech that doesn't from time to time loses track of the pulse.