"Throw Phone" Enables Law Enforcement to Establish Communication
This video appeared in Electronic Design and has been published here with permission.
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Brinc Drones doesn't do just drones. It has been known for its LEMUR 2 drone with virtual-reality (VR) pilot capability, but for this video (above), we take a look a the Brinc Ball (Fig. 1).
The Brinc Ball is essentially a cellular telephone in a round, rugged container. It's designed to be thrown into an area that has people you wish to communicate with, but who may be somewhat hostile to face-to-face communication such as hostage situations. It can help first responders to de-escalate a situation. The phone has a power speaker that can be heard from over 60 feet away and it has a very sensitive microphone.
The ball is designed to work with a smartphone app, which is easy to use with a simple method to link a particular ball to the app. It uses 4G/LTE connectivity. Also, there's no off switch on the ball, so those who receive the phone cannot hang up.
The systems has a 24-hour talk time with a five day standby period. It's rugged and can handle a 10-foot drop onto concrete. It uses USB-C charging.
The ball itself is 4.9-in in diameter and weighs in at 1.8 pounds (Fig. 2). There's a paracord loop connection. The ball is made of high-impact plastic.
Here is another quick video of the Brinc Ball in action.
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The video transcript below has been edited for clarity.
Hi, I’m David Benowitz, Director of Marketing from BRINC. We make technology in the service of public safety. I'm here to show you the BRINC Ball. BRINC Ball is a next-gen throw phone, enabling everyday communications for law enforcement across the world.
What we've seen is that we're asking our law enforcement officers to focus more on de-escalation tactics instead of entering first, but the problem is they just don't have the tools able to do it.
What we've done is we've been able to put two-way communications into a simple, ruggedized ball form that you can throw in a patrol car and deploy immediately. All you do is throw it in and dial with your phone.
BRINC Ball automatically picks up the device and then officers can speak through the ball. It's perfect for barricade situations, suicide callouts, wellness checkups, and essentially anywhere where someone might be at harm to themselves or someone else and a police officer entering further might escalate the situation inherently.
