You always want to be alert while driving. This is especially the case when you're in areas with a lot of children because their smaller size can make them more difficult to see than adults and they don't always pay the most attention to traffic.
That's why Swedish ad agency Forsman & Bodenfors created the new Slow Down GPS app for If Insurance that gives directions in a child's voice when you drive near schools, daycare centers and other areas where there will likely be a lot of children playing outside or crossing the street. The agency likens the app to "a subtle audio sign that says, 'Children at play,'" according to Adweek.
"We are programmed to care for children, so when you hear a child's voice, it will have that immediate effect of putting you at mind of looking after children. There's an association there already," Julian Bond, a sound expert and chairman of The Sound Agency, said in the below video demonstrating Slow Down GPS.
After nearly a year of developing the app, Slow Down GPS is available to download now for free from iTunes and Google Play. The child-voice navigation feature can only be used in Sweden, Finland and Norway as of now, and the first version of the app comes with the GPS locations of all of the schools and daycare centers in the Nordic region, according to Adweek.
However, there's a section of Slow Down GPS' page on the If Insurance website that asks users to suggest other places where the app may be useful, so it's possible it could cover more locations in the future.
Via Gizmodo
Photo: Christopher Edwards | Flickr
