The phone that lies…

Now here’s a phone that’s gonna stop traffic…. imagine being phoned by your boss when you’re really out partying ….how cool would it be for the phone to make him think you’re really hard at work?

The Swarm Phone is one of the three inventions on tonight’s episode of The New Inventors.

Invented by RMIT lecturer and University of Melbourne researcher Christine Satchell, the Swarm software allows people to keep their phones permanently switched on without being interrupted by unwanted callers.

Through an interactive panel, users will be able to see what their friends’ current activities are and whether or not it’s appropriate to get in touch. In this way the swarm mimics the social etiquette of everyday life.

Ms Satchell said icons would depict whether someone was in a meeting, on a date or enjoying leisure time at a favourite pub – all with the push of a button.

As Satchell described it to ABC Radio:

Christine Satchell: The idea basically came from gaming culture cause the young people are so experienced with the gaming platforms that we have now and the use of avatars, which is a digital representation of a person – a little cartoon version of themselves. So what happens is that when someone calls, instead of going directly to the phone they’re met with a digital representation of that person and that person is engaged in a specific activity and the activity represents what they are doing at that specific time.

ABC: So if you’ve got one of these phones and I’ve got one and you’re, I don’t know, shopping, and I ring you up my phone tells me that you’re shopping, it shows a little, like a little symbol of you shopping or something like that?

Christine Satchell: That’s absolutely right and furthermore though say your boss was to ring when you were meant to be at work, your boss could also be met with an avatar that represents, or a little symbol, that represents you sitting at your desk hard at work or in a meeting.

The New Inventors airs 8pm tonight on ABC1.

Press Release:

Invention 1
Swarm – creates multiple identities on your mobile phone
by inventor Christine Satchell from VIC

We’d all like the boss to think we’re hard at work, when in fact we’re out having a good time. Swarm is software that makes it possible by turning a G3 mobile phone into what some have called a ‘lie phone’. It can tell the boss you’re in work mode and at the same time tell your friends where to join you for some fun. Invented by Christine Satchell, the Swarm software allows people to keep their phones permanently switched on without being interrupted by unwanted callers.

Invention 2
Wiseman Ladafast – safely secures ladders before you begin to climb
by inventor Cecil and Chris Wiseman from NSW

The Wiseman Ladafast is a clever clamp which can go up a ladder and lock it onto a wall or gutter whilst the user stands firmly on the ground. It’s the brainchild of Chris Wiseman and his dad Cecil who, after one too many ‘near misses’ with ladders, set out to design a device that could cut the risk before you climb. Their invention fixes around the ladder’s side rails, then a small set of wheels helps it scale the ladder using the rails like a set of tracks. Once at the top, the Ladafast can be locked onto the guttering to secure the ladder ready for a safe climb.

Invention 3
Accessible Childproof Latch – opens a childproof gate without having to reach up
by inventor Neville Brown from NSW

Neville Brown describes himself as ‘someone in a wheelchair who insists on living life’. When faced with a childproof gate at his son’s school, which he couldn’t open, he immediately started working on a solution. His Accessible Childproof Latch allows a short stature adult or someone in a wheelchair to open the gate using a special key whilst maintaining the gate’s normal childproof latch function. The unit is able to be retrofitted, and because it does not compromise the normal childproof functioning of the gate, it can be left on the gate indefinitely.

Source: RMIT, ABC