The Non-Alarming Fire Alarm
The current system of fire alarms creates an unnecessarily loud alarm even over false alarms and fails to provide users with enough relevant data to produce an effective evacuation and response strategy. Main stream services like schools and government buildings are all operating on the old fashioned sprinkler and ultra loud alarm systems that create more panic and confusion than helpful evacuations.
- The who: Anyone with a fire system in place, but primarily buildings that host large volumes of people.
- The what: The current fire alarms create unneeded chaos and fail to give listeners important info like where the fire is, whether it is smoke or a full flame, and most importantly, there are more effective ways to send a message than an ear piercing alarm.
- The why: Creating a system that informs rather than alarms could lead to improvements in fire escape rates and better safety protocols all together.
My hypothesis: If there was a fire alert system designed with the intent of educating those in the area and informing them about the situation at hand rather than create an instant sense of panic, then there would be greatly improvement fire safety protocols and more educated decisions could be made in the event of an emergency.
After interviewing my participants, I've concluded that there are other existing markets where having a loud siren isn't effective. One market that I hadn't explored was pre-schools and elementary schools. With such young children and often times so many of them, creating and maintaining calm environments is essential and a loud siren interrupting class bypassed both of those ideals! Another, is the market for people living with disabilities. For someone who is deaf or maybe blind, a loud siren tells them nothing. You need a system that will tell you where the fire is and what intensity it is currently. For the deaf, a unique system of lights could be implemented to indicate different levels of threats or segments of the house.
While these interviews did introduce me to these new market places, everyone agreed with my hypothesis. Never have they been in an emergency situation and felt like they knew what was going on. Being informed is half the battle, but training for a fire drill practicing the same situation repeated won't help at all. It's important to understand the immense marketplace you're serving here and the level of severity the situation you are preventing is. A new system must redefine fire safety and promote calm behavior and informed decision making.
I find this post interesting. Do you have any ideas for a non-alarming fire alarm? Usually when I hear a fire alarm I think "Ow, my ears!" very shortly followed by "There is a fire, I need to evacuate". I also notice the flashing lights that are built onto the alarms. As far as blind or deaf people go, both have one way to tell that there is a fire. But for someone who is blind and deaf they would be none the wiser to the alarm sounding and flashing.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your paragraph about other existing markets. I had never considered a better alarm for children or the blind/deaf. It just goes to show how different people experience problems differently. For me, fire alarms are annoying and startling but it seems like it'll startle you to action. I would be curious to see how a non-alarming fire alarm could retain that sense of urgency.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting idea! I have never thought about this, but now that you mention it, I really do think having a more educational alarm would be helpful. I can confirm that I am always startled when the alarm goes off, so I would assume it is ever scarier for children. As far as the deaf and blind go, there are plenty of ways that alarms could be created to accommodate everyone all at once.
ReplyDeleteI really like this idea and would like to see you develop it more. I know from my personal experience when a fire alarm goes off it does set in panic and its not a good experience. I did like the fact you mentioned how this can impact those with disabilities in a different way. Besides just blind or deaf, individuals with sensory issues would really have a difficult time with this. I think you could really expand on this idea.
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