A+Talking+Smoke+Detector+Aimed+at+Protecting+Kids

From the Factiva database (accessed February 18, 2012)

911 words 15 January 2003  [|Canada AM] CNAM English Copyright (c) 2003 CTV Television Inc. All Rights Reserved Host(s): Lisa LaFlamme Guest(s): Brent Routman, Creator, KidSmart Vocal Smoke Detector LaFLAMME: Well, it is an innovative idea, one that could save the life of your child. The shrill beep that blasts out of your smoke detector could soon be replaced with a voice, but not just any voice, your own voice. The ** KidSmart Smoke Detector ** is made to calm panicky kids with a customized voice message telling them what to do and where to go in case of a fire. So, to find out more we go to Minneapolis. And the creator, Brent Routman, joins us. Good morning to you, Brent. ROUTMAN: Good morning, Lisa. How are you today? LaFLAMME: I am well, thank you. Tell me how you came up with this idea for basically, I guess, a talking smoke detector. ROUTMAN: A colleague and a friend of mine, Larry Stults and I, were thinking about how you can give information to people in the case of an emergency. I had an old New Yorker car that talked, it told me that the door was ajar, that the keys were in the car. I was sitting in a hotel room, and of course when you're in a hotel you should look around to determine where the nearest exit is, just in case there is an emergency. And I saw the smoke detector and it just occurred to me. And after discussions with Larry, we thought: Why can't a smoke detector give you information? And who would need that mostly would be young children and senior adults. LaFLAMME: Show us the smoke detector. Show us how it works, Brent. ROUTMAN: Sure. It's very simple. And that's the beauty of it. It works like an answering machine. A parent records their own voice, a message to their children, so the children don't panic in fires. The problem we have in the industry -- and it's a well-known phenomenon -- is that children panic in a fire. Young children, especially. LaFLAMME: What do they do, normally? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">ROUTMAN: Well, they will hide under beds, they will hide in closets, and they die of smoke inhalation, unfortunately and tragically. They think they can hide from the fire. |And there's also a phenomenon going on where the children think they're at fault or responsible for the fire and they're scared they're going to get in trouble. So you leave a message for your child. And I've got to emphasize, this is very important: Parents need to practise with their children. No one fire safety device should be relied upon solely. You've got to go over what they need to do. You've got to show them how to get out of the house. You've got to show them where [unintelligible]. And once you've done that and you've practised on a monthly basis, record a message. |For example, you simply go into the machine: "Stella and Tony, this is Daddy. There is a real fire in the house. Do what we practised. Get out of the house now and meet at our special meeting place." |And you simply record that. And then during a fire emergency it plays. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">LaFLAMME: Pretty effective, to hear Daddy's voice when you're scared. Where do you put that? Because I thought smoke detectors were supposed to go in the hall or outside. Are you supposed to put it in your kids' bedroom? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">ROUTMAN: Well, it can go outside in the hallway to give the child more warning. Because if you put it in the room directly the chance of the smoke chamber picking up the fire is delayed. So if you put it directly outside the child's room, they should be able to hear it, depending on the decibel level of the sound. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">LaFLAMME: Now, you won for this, the best innovative idea for 2003? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">ROUTMAN: Right. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">LaFLAMME: Did you know? I mean, I guess, like all great inventions, it seems so obvious and such a great idea. But give me the genesis of that. Did you know right away: Hey, how come this doesn't exist? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">ROUTMAN: Well, it occurred to us that this really is an important component to fire safety. And when we did some checking, we did some patent searching, no one had actually patented the idea. |But you're right, we did win an award recently at a large consumer technology fair. And we were gratified. And we do hope that this will make a significant difference in safety. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">LaFLAMME: When will it be on the shelves, Brent? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">ROUTMAN: We anticipate this summer. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">LaFLAMME: Any other inventions up your sleeve, safety related? Or do you not just dabble in safety items? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">ROUTMAN: No, this is not my day job, Lisa. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">LaFLAMME: [laughs] It's a good one, though. It's a really good one. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">ROUTMAN: I work for an intellectual-property law firm. And, actually, there are other inventions in the pipeline that I'm not at liberty to talk about. But they are safety related. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">LaFLAMME: So you got a good deal on the patent legal forms then, too? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">ROUTMAN: Such a blessing. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">LaFLAMME: Listen, it's a great idea. We thank you so much for inventing it, for sharing it with us this morning. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">ROUTMAN: And thank you for your time. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">LaFLAMME: Take care. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; text-align: left;">ROUTMAN: You too. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #666666; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">Document cnam000020030116dz1f00008
 * A Talking Smoke Detector Aimed at Protecting Kids **