Communications of the ACM
Team's Lifesaving App Could Help Farmworkers Beat the Heat
A new smartphone app is designed to send automatic heat warnings to farmworkers in the field.
Credit: lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com
Researchers at the University of Southern California's (USC) Viterbi School of Engineering have developed Calor, a smartphone app designed to send automatic heat warnings to farmworkers in the field.
The researchers note they had to overcome several obstacles in developing Calor. For example, the team faced a lack of good data services on farms, which makes it difficult to get accurate locations for retrieving and delivering weather information.
In addition, the researchers had to keep data usage as low as possible for workers who do not have data plans, and had to consider the anonymity of workers through a registration system.
"We wanted to tailor the app to their specific needs without overburdening the problem," says USC researcher Faith Florez.
In addition to the heat warnings, the researchers also added an educational component to the app that provides media content in English and Spanish to inform workers about their rights and how to protect their health.
From USC News
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