Shark-Triggered SMS Alerts Present Life Guards With Ambient Awareness

Remember the toilet that tweets? Well maybe researcher Seth Hardy was onto something when he jokingly conceptualized it. Scientists in Western Australia have tagged over 70 great white sharks for a trial that will send beach lifesavers a text message when one gets too close to shore. We’ve seen plants and appliances join the internet of things, so why not animals? With this creative application of SMS technology, life guards now have a new form of ambient awareness, a spidey sense that tingles when danger is near.

MobileBehavior is an Omnicom consultancy that observes emerging mobile technology, cultural trends, and consumer behavior, then connects the dots to generate mobile strategy and intelligence for leading global brands.