26 at Y. pitch gizmos

PROVO — Police officers of the not-so-distant-future are in the eighth grade right now. And they are tech-savvy like no other generation.

That's no surprise to Motorola, which commissioned Brigham Young University industrial design students to come up with futuristic technology that could be used by lawmen who were raised playing Xbox video games.

They wanted the students to put together concepts for gizmos that would give officers faster access to information about a suspect, a crime scene or directions to a specific location in an investigation.

This week, students presented ideas to Motorola official Scott Richards. Twenty-six students were selected to pitch their ideas.

For the project, students talked with police officers to get to know how they worked and the kinds of technological tools they could use.

So what did they come up with?

Here are a few of the ideas:

• A fingerprint scanner that digitally sends scans of a fingerprint to a database for immediate analysis.

• A video radio linked to security cameras to give police immediate access to what the cameras pick up.

• A silent communication device that includes a scanner for scanning driver's licenses and other documents for immediate information on a person.

• A hand-held translator that audibly translates from one language to another.

• A tactical helmet that displays digital information on the visor.

• A police microphone that includes a screen to receive pictures, maps or lists of information.

• A hands-free radio belt that is pressed into action as soon as a police officer draws his weapon.

The assignment was a challenge to most students because they are trained to deal more with form than creative concepts.

"They had to act as creative consultants, (and come up) with the whole idea behind (each product), rather than just the form," said Richard Fry, professor of industrial design and a student adviser.

Of the 26 students, 18 were working on a professional level for the first time. Some worked with Fry, while others worked with teacher Paul Skaggs.

Richards said the project "helps us stimulate our thinking and gives the students real-world experience," Richards said.

Motorola and BYU's industrial design department have a long-standing research and design relationship.

A similar student project BYU did for Motorola in the 1990s helped hatch the concept behind Motorola's Talkabout radio, a high-tech version of the walkie-talkie, Fry said.

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E-mail: rodger@desnews.com

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