Automating life-saving.
That’s the plan for one Arizona entrepreneur, Tony Mulligan, who designed a remote-controlled buoy named Emily to help rescue swimmers in distress. Emily — an acronym for Emergency Lifesaving Lanyard — can race through rippling waters at 24 miles per hour and rescue swimmers twelve times as fast as human lifeguards, according to CNN.
Mulligan got the idea after creating a small robotic boat for his last company to help the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration monitor marine mammals.
Months later he sold the company and funneled $250,000 into his new venture, Hydronalix, Emily’s manufacturer. With help from outside investments, Emily will be available next year at $3,500 a pop.
Human lifeguards have no fear, though: Emily can’t save unconscious swimmers, so she won’t put anyone out of work just yet.
Photo by Hydronalix.
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