Mindmap on crime preventing alarms

After researching into alarms, I created a mind map showing my thoughts and information that I have found on crime prevention. In particular concentrating on alarms. I found that alarms have a huge effect on crime. If there were no alarms, I believe that more than half of thieves/attackers etc would never be caught or frightened off. I looked into a range of alarms such as personal alarms, shop alarms, car alarms and have shown a few ideas I came up with. From researching personal alarms I realised that this range of alarms have been designed in a large range of looks ranging from the simplistic usual personal alarms to beautifully designed pieces such as bag charms or pieces of jewellery.

Keeping up with my interests in shoes I came across this fascinating design. This piece which I found is a new prototype, a shoe which has a built in personal alarm. It was designed after 5 prostitutes were killed in Ipswich for their safety. This piece amazes me in the way that technology can create such a device. I do find it a bit unpractical because it may be difficult to reach your shoe whilst being attacked. However that could perhaps be overcome by a device to activate it in your handbag or somewhere else easy to reach.

I also looked into car alarms. I found out about a new design created that uses radio signals to send a message to either your house or office. This lets you know your car alarm is going off. I thought this piece could be a lot better designed with more gadgets in it that could tell you where your car is if it's been stolen. The design of the piece could be as cool as the personal alarms for example a piece of jewellery or a bag charm.

Investigating shop crime prevention, I found out they have so many different types of alarms, such as the door alarms or product tags which are designed in every shape and size. I looked into designing a device that was attached to an item, but disguised so a thief would not realise. The piece could be hidden in a button for example. It could be deactivated at the till. If stolen the button would emit a loud noise when leaving the store and could also be tracked within a given radius.

Alarms today are becoming more and more advanced and complex. I find this so interesting that such small pieces of technology can do so much. I do believe that alarms help prevent crime. The ongoing design of these products help to make them more effective and definitely give the owner much more security and a better sense of safety. I look forward to see what new development there and what exciting pieces are designed over the next few years.