Description:
What's Cool (Anna)
The most important use of the SmartCap is to promote safety. The creator of the SmartCap was involved in the mining industry, where employees use heavy machinery and work long hours. These two conditions could result in an accident, but with the SmartCap, the accident could be averted. The SmartCap screen device located inside the machine's cab will beep if it is determined that the cap's wearer is too fatigued. Not only does the information go to the in-cab device, but it can also be monitored by employers. Employers can review this information to decide who should and who should not be operating heavy machinery. It can also be used to determine work schedules. Employers can look over results from the SmartCap to see who is able to work long hours, and who tires too easily to handle heavy machinery for long periods of time.
The SmartCap is practical. While it will not function properly of thoroughly soaked, it can withstand sweat. It can also be washed. The producers of the SmartCap recommend that users hand wash the cap for best results. Along with the baseball cap design, this technology is available in headbands and visors. The technology's producers are working on implementing it in hard hats as well.
On page 73 of Alone Together, Sherry Turkle discusses how new technologies are being invented to do jobs that humans once held. If enough accidents occurred in a certain field of work, it could be decided that it would be safer to invent some sort of technology to work in that field. The SmartCap is a technology that can be used with people to help complete a job, instead of replacing people.
I believe this cap is a good idea but not for every day use. I believe it while work schedules can be the main focus, employee training is also an option. It works similar to Bentham's panopticon as described in Cultural Theory and Popular Culture by John Storey. Like the inmates, the employees will feel under constant behavior and learn the proper methods of knowing when one is too tired to work and lessening accidents in the future. A work place example of "a movement from punishment... to a discipline," in the work place.(pages 131 and 132) But it also begs to the philosophical and moral questions of surveillance and "training" of people.
ReplyDeleteI agree in thinking that this app is not for everyday use. I think there is too much hardware required in addition to the hat to make it practical for casual use. If the company could find a way to make the product less bloated and more practical, then I think it could be successful. In the context of companies requiring employees to use it, I think it is probably a positive, even though it is not perfect. It increases the safety of a very dangerous job, which may offset all of the negatives accompanying it.
ReplyDeleteI think that the smart cap is a useful tool to create and implement a better work schedule for employees in harsh conditions. However, I don't think that the cap would be immediately effective in improving work conditions. Just because the cap recognizes employee fatigue doesn't mean the employee can stop working that instant. But I do think that after gathering data showing regular patterns of fatigue among workers, employers can understand when workers will require rest as a means to optimize productivity.
ReplyDeleteThis technology really seems to have the right motives. Being able to integrate technology with people that isn't a distraction and is actually to help monitor fatigue and promote focus is a true benefit of technology. In Turkle's Alone Together, most technology is viewed as isolating us from each other in various ways. Fatigue is something that most any human can relate to, especially in the work environment. This technology links the people that are monitoring the system and the people using the machinery. If they can talk about when they get tired and possibly develop more productive work schedules together, the employee-employer relationship would be much stronger. This technology would seem to truly help communication in the labor market.
ReplyDeleteSomeone suggested during the CellCONTROL discussion that it be used in driver education courses or for monitoring drivers on probation. I think that would also be a good use for the SmartCap.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see this technology implemented in truck driving companies to train new drivers or monitor old ones (sort of like a random drug screen, but to test safety and self-awareness).
I agree that it isn't very practical for everyday use, but I think it would be very helpful in certain stages.
I can see how this might put some drivers out of a job, but I think big rig companies should always put safety first.
Having driven a tractor to mow fields since I was 11 years old, I can really appreciate this technology. The monotony of work with heavy machinery mixed with lack of sleep is very dangerous, and having a method of keeping from dozing off on the job is a great idea. The only issue I have with this technology is the idea that there may be operators hired to monitor the data from SmartCap. I think that would be a huge waste of money, because this is simply not big enough of an issue to merit hiring staff over. This technology has huge potential.
ReplyDeleteThe SmartCap has both pros and cons. If a business wanted to evaluate the work ethic and exhaustion levels of their workers, these caps would be great to temporarily monitor and collect data. However, this information could be a little inaccurate if it was only temporary because the workers may step up their game for the temporary time they are being monitored. These caps, in my opinion, show mistrust of the workers and their abilities. It's allowing technology to find the answers instead of allowing the manager to do his or job of monitoring the people. I feel like this information could be found just as easily as hands-on monitoring could do. In Turkle's "Alone Togerher," the author expresses that "Our networked lives allow us to hide from each other, even as we are tethered to each other" (Turkle, 1). This quote perfectly depicts how I feel when thinking of the role and SmartCap has in the division of manger and worker. As far as jolting the workers awake when they fall asleep, I feel that it could be helpful. Until hard hats are available with this technology though, I feel that the hats pose a danger especially for miners. Overall, this technology has potential, but I feel like it needs improvements and should only be focused on helping jolt the workers awake, especially truck drivers or workers in dangerous environments.
ReplyDeleteI think this technology has some positive and negative implications for its use, but for now I will focus only on the negative side. First, as mentioned in our class discussion, workers might begin to take extreme measures in order to not lose valuable work time due to fatigue. Secondly, in Carr's "The Shallows", he warns about the dangers of trusting technology over human instinct. He states, "Our focus on a medium's content can blind us... we're too busy being dazzled or disturbed by the programming to notice what's going on inside our heads"(pg 7). He later says that the technology is just a "tool", showing that we should take control over our technology and only use it as a supplement for workers.
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