SUN SMARTER

Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world, with 2 in 3 Australians developing skin cancer in their lifetime. Australians know that they need to be careful in the sun, but we all have very short memories, under estimated the threat of an invisible force. This is what led me to explore UV wearables, a silent sentinel to help keep families safe from skin cancer. 

To test this theory I enlisted the help of our new strategy director, who I made a prototype UV device for. Being from another country and not accustomed to the harsh Australian sun. The goal was to see if he was underestimating his exposure to dangerous UV levels in his everyday life. Sitting outside for lunch, walking to work and so on, which a UV wearable could help him to avoid.

The hardware prototype helped to validate the assumption, as we quite quickly ascertained that he was being exposed to extreme levels of UV, more often than he realised. Which gave him an appreciation for the harsh Australian sun and a change in his everyday behaviour.

PRODUCT CONCEPT

This research led us to start a conversation with Optus about using new IOT technologies powered by their network. The badge is a bluetooth enabled wearable that constantly monitors the UV index of the wearer. The wearable passively monitors the current UV index and time of exposure, sending an alert audibly via an alarm, as well as to the app when exposure reaches damaging levels.