While features like display size, battery life, resolution, processor speed, and camera quality are great marketing tools, sometimes a device’s usability comes from its lesser marketed features. A good example would be in the case of 22-year old college student Casey Bennett who recently got into a car accident, but thanks to an accessibility feature built into his Apple Watch, he managed to call for help.
According to Bennett, he was driving to class earlier this month when his car was hit by another driver and it flipped over. The airbags in the car deployed which kept Bennett from suffering greater harm and his seat belt also helped to keep him in place. However the accident also saw his iPhone fall from the center console to the ground, in which Bennett was unable to reach it to call 911.
He figured that if he couldn’t reach his phone, he’d just have to wait there and hope someone already called for help, but that’s when he remember he had his Apple Watch with him and by pressing down on the side button for an extended period of time, an SOS call will be made. We suppose ultimately someone would have seen the accident and called 911 on Bennett’s behalf, but if anything it does highlight how important some accessibility features are.
Filed in . Read more about Apple Watch, Smartwatch and Wearable Tech.