TrailSafe
A smart hiking pole that brings you home safely
Designed by Hongjun QIAN
TrailSafe
TrailSafe is a smart hiking pole system designed to enhance safety for inexperienced bushwalkers. Equipped with an SOS button, flashlight, and location tracking, it allows users to send emergency alerts directly to park staff, ensuring timely assistance.
Hongjun
QIAN
Hongjun is an industrial designer who is passionate about creating innovative designs that improve people's safety and well-being. She believes in design's transformative power and is dedicated to tackling real-world problems through hands-on research and collaboration with stakeholders. By leveraging a diverse range of design tools, she consistently strives to deliver practical, impactful, and user-centered projects.
A smart hiking pole that brings you home safely
TrailSafe is a smart hiking pole system designed to enhance safety for inexperienced bushwalkers. Equipped with an SOS button, flashlight, and location tracking, it allows users to send emergency alerts directly to park staff, ensuring timely assistance. TrailSafe is available as a free rental to reduce hiking-related accidents effectively.
“How might we create a product that can help inexperienced bushwalkers stay SAFE on their walks?”
Network that Always Connects
The majority of Australian national parks don’t have full signal coverage. TrailSafe uses LPWAN (low-power wide-area network) technology, specifically Sigfox’s network, to create a two-way connection between the device and a base station. For example, in Blue Mountains National Park, just a few wireless base stations can cover the entire area. This setup allows park staff to track every Trailsafe pole equipped with a tracker. The technology is also highly energy-efficient, with batteries lasting for years, and is more cost-effective than standard 5G networks.
With a single press of the SOS button, users can send a help message directly to the national park. Park staff can then locate the user by tracking the location sent from the TrailSafe pole. Thanks to LPWAN technology, the poles can transmit up to 140 location messages per day—roughly one every 10 minutes over a 24-hour period.
Flashlight for Night-walk Safety
Research shows that underestimating one’s physical abilities often leads to visitors becoming stranded or lost in the mountains. Since the terrain can be dangerous at night, TrailSafe has introduced portable flashlights to help manage such situations.
Use App to Find Closest Kiosk
TrailSafe is integrated with the national park's app, making it easy for users to rent free hiking poles. Similar to renting an electric scooter, users can check the nearest kiosk and see item availability directly from their phones. The app also collects personal details, including age, medical conditions, emergency contacts, and planned destinations, to help park staff provide timely and appropriate assistance if needed.
Rent Hiking Poles from a Kiosk
TrailSafe poles are available not only at the visitor centre, but also at kiosks located at parking areas and trail entrances. The kiosk incorporates a map billboard as part of the national park's infrastructure, guiding visitors to choose a route that is within their physical ability.
Walk Smart, Walk Safe
TrailSafe is designed to reduce hiking-related accidents and save lives. By combining an app, rental kiosks, and smart hiking poles equipped with geo-location tracking, flashlights, and an SOS button, it helps national parks create a safer environment for inexperienced bushwalkers..
Hongjun QIAN
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