Design and Development of Wearable GPS Tracking Device by Applying the Design for Wearability Approach

Abstract

The cases of children abduction are the concerns of various countries in the world, because it may lead to human trafficking crime. One of the most common ways of preventing such cases from happening is to use Global Positioning System (GPS), at which it can be used to monitor the children location. Integrating the GPS module with the children wearable devices allows transmission of an early warning signal to the parents/caretakers on their whereabouts. Design guidelines for wearability provide useful steps for designing the wearable device. Along with the guidelines (focused on device placement, human perception of space, device attachment and the aesthetic factor), some aspects of human factors are also included as considerations such as context-awareness. This study describes the implementation of such device and approach to prevent child abduction in Indonesia. The GPS module was integrated with a belt buckle of the primary student in Indonesia. The system allows an early warning system to the parents or caretaker, once the child is over the designated monitoring area. Keywords-Global Positioning System (GPS); wearable device; children; design; context-awareness