Friday, February 25, 2005

KidSmart Vocal Smoke Detector

Filed under: OTC

The New York Times reports about an innovative smoke detector:

Matthew Ferris, 27, and Bruce Black, 29, were in a master's of business program at the University of Georgia, when they heard about a patent for a talking smoke detector.

Children can sleep through almost anything, including very loud fire alarms, but Mr. Ferris and Mr. Black decided that what they called the cocktail party effect - that a person's own name or a familiar voice cuts through a haze of chatter - might penetrate the deeper sleep cycles of children.

As the pair polished the idea, they won regional competitions pitting business plans against one another. They also won a national contest; the grand prize was a $100,000 equity investment. Last November, they got their first marketable detectors, ready for sale at $69.95. After making the rounds of trade shows and fire conventions, they set up a small booth in an out-of-the-way spot at the electronics show. As a result, in the first quarter of this year, they will ship at least 25,000 KidSmart Vocal Smoke Detectors to about 30 clients.

NewsChannel 11 of Lubbock, TX investigates the device...

More at KidSmart...

                (2)