Bryan Vila presents at White House’s Datapalooza

Our very own Dr. Bryan Vila recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C. for the second annual White House Safety Datapalooza, where he introduced the BeSharp app. This app monitors objective assessments of police officer fatigue with a small device similar to a wrist monitor. Called wrist actigraphy, the device monitors rest/activity cycles by measuring motor activity. The app sends text message alerts to officers as they become potentially impaired by fatigue while on duty. These alerts tell officers to take precautionary measures depending on level of fatigue. BeSharp will develop our understanding of how fatigue affects safety, as well as the impact of fatigue management efforts on officer safety.

This project contributes to the White House’s Safety Data Initiative, which aims to make government data relating to public and product safety easily accessible to the public, while encouraging the development of innovative apps and services fueled by that data.