Melbourne dads invent smart speaker reminding drivers to check their back seats
With more scorching weather on the way for Melbourne, three enterprising dads have come up with a clever way to stop tired, busy and distracted parents accidentally leaving their kids in hot cars. They say the new technology is a game-changer.
Inner South
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A near-miss five years ago shocked devoted dad Andrew Orkin into thinking about ways to alert tired and busy parents to their precious cargo in the back seat.
Mr Orkin, from Cheltenham, was on his morning commute to work with his son, then aged two.
A series of important calls had him focused solely on work matters but a cough from the back seat reminded him of something more important.
Realising how easily busy parents could accidentally leave kids in their cars, Mr Orkin teamed with friends and fellow dads Alex Vashchenko and Sluv Yerusalimsky to find a solution.
Fast forward five years and they’ve released Clever Elly.
It’s a simple-to-use device that plugs into the cigarette lighter port in vehicles that reminds parents to get their kids out of the back seat.
To ensure the alert isn’t easily mistaken for other car sounds, Clever Elly is designed to issue a verbal reminder. And to avoid the risk of users tuning out, there are 10 different voice commands – rather than a repeated sound – that play at random when the engine is turned off.
Clever Elly uses phrases such as “check the back seat before exiting” and “it’s time to check the back seat”.
It’s the small solution to a big problem: more than 5000 children and pets are rescued from locked cars in Australia, every year, with more than 846 fatalities since 1998.
It works automatically, requiring no Bluetooth, apps, buttons, screens or installation. All cars have a cigarette lighter, but they are usually occupied by cell phone or navigation system chargers, so Clever Elly has been built with a dual USB charger.
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Orkin said the biggest hurdle in overcoming the problem of children and pets being left in cars is convincing people how easily they can be distracted and forget.
“It almost happened to me because I was so focused on work but the biggest issue is people don’t believe it happens,” he said.
“We’ve known the extreme effects of sleep deprivation and felt the surge of love as they fall asleep drooling on our chests.
“We’ve each felt the joy and burden of raising children and the overwhelming need to keep them safe and protected.”
Clever Elly retails at $44 and can be bought in bundles to share with friends and family.
To find out more, visit www.cleverelly.com