Samsung collaborates with SLS Australia to help connect technology with beach safety

Nov. 29, 2016

In collaboration with Surf Life Saving Australia, Samsung Electronics Australia recently launched and piloted Pocket Patrol – an Augmented Reality (AR) mobile app developed with Leo Burnett Sydney, that uses technology to help raise awareness of the number one hazard on our beaches, rips*

The pilot program for Pocket Patrol took place from October 22 through to November 13, at selected beaches on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. The app enables users to visualise identified hazards by using a combination of data that is uploaded by the on-duty lifeguards and surf lifesavers as well as AR, GPS, Compass, Gyroscope and image recognition.

Pocket Patrol is a Launching People initiative, Samsung’s global brand campaign that started in 2013 to help consumers unleash their potential and create meaningful change through the use of Samsung technology.

Philip Newton, Corporate Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Samsung said, “Each year Samsung looks at local real life issues affecting Australians and how technology can help support or solve the problem. Pocket Patrol allows Samsung to support SLSA by providing a tool to help them educate beachgoers regarding rips and hazards at the beach”. 

Grant McAloon and Vince Lagana, Joint ECDs at Leo Burnett Sydney said “Smartphones are becoming a natural extension in people’s lives and with two-thirds of Australian beach goers unable to identify a rip**, there was an opportunity to use technology to raise beach safety awareness”.

“The idea to develop Pocket Patrol came from connecting these two insights together, creating an app that lifeguards and surf lifesavers can use to pinpoint dangers in real time.” Said Mr. McAloon

“It was important that Pocket Patrol was easy to use; it had to be as simple as holding up your smartphone to the water. Augmented Reality became a natural fit to implement into the app, Pocket Patrol is the first time that this technology and GPS have been used together to display hidden dangers in such a manner. Making it happen meant pushing the technology to its current limits so we could achieve a level of accuracy satisfaction to both SLSA and Samsung.” Mr. Lagana added.

Shane Daw, Coastal Safety Manager at Surf Life Saving Australia, said “The innovative technology of Samsung Pocket Patrol has provided beach visitors with a firsthand look at what lifesavers see every day. The identification of rip currents and other hazards displayed through Samsung Pocket Patrol’s augmented reality program has greatly assisted in providing increased education and awareness,” Mr. Daw continued.

More than 2,000 beachgoers tried Pocket Patrol during the four-week pilot, learning how they too can identify rips and other potential hazards. A further three million connected with the program through Virtual Reality, 360 film and online content that communicated the importance of beach safety. 

*Pocket Patrol is designed to promote surf safety only. It is not a safety or warning device, and must never be relied upon as a substitute for advice from an on-duty lifeguard or surf lifesaver and an understanding of your abilities in the surf. Surf conditions are variable. Hazard information may not be up-to-date and may not identify all hazards. Beach areas not identified as hazardous may still be hazardous and unsafe. Where possible, swim at a patrolled beach and between the red and yellow flags.