Main concept
The main feature of an EPEE Defender is the possibility to scare a criminal or a beast by drawing the attention of people nearby as well as inform your dear ones about the danger you are in by providing your coordinates.
Basics
Sometimes, those in trouble are not able to ask for help. Therefore, a person who has a heart attack or a stroke may not be noticed by the people in the immediate vicinity, and yet there are only a few precious minutes to save his/her life.
When criminals attack in a dark place, people can be just around the corner and in most cases, they could scare them off, but it is not always possible to grab their attention.
We have decided to develop a device that could protect people in the most dangerous situations. As a result, we have created the EPEE Defender.
The concept
Normally, a personal defender must be compact so that the users could always carry it with them. Thus, making it the size of a key ring was a great idea as you always take you keys. In addition, the EPEE Defender doesn’t require often charging so that you can avoid situations when you need help but there is no power.
Activation of the device should be simple and fast. So, we decided to make a safety pin, which must be simply pulled out to activate the alarm mode.
In terms of protective functions, we have decided to integrate a powerful siren into the device, which is able to attract people's attention at a considerable distance and to scare the criminal off. The tests showed that we could integrate a signalling capacity of 120 decibels into the Epee, which is quite enough to put everybody on red alert several neighbourhoods away.
The next protective feature was the GSM alert module capable of sending notifications with the GPS coordinates to several mobile numbers that have been set in advance.
After a careful study of the available modules and their features, we realized that we can put the idea into action and started the development process.
Technical design
First of all, we analyzed all the necessary components and then developed the internal system of the device. As soon as we understood the space necessary to integrate all the components, our designers started working on the layout of the EPEE.
Sketches
We thought about several layouts. Some of them featured rough sharp edges, while some combined smooth lines and streamlined shapes.
After analyzing the feedback of the target group regarding the variants of the EPEE design, we have selected a model which formed the basis for the first prototype.
The prototype
The first prototype of the defender’s body was made from polymer clay. We wanted to hold it in our hands and see how the final product will be felt in the hands and pocket. We found out that the EPEE was really compact and convenient, and the next prototype was created on a 3D printer taking into account the shape of the internal space. Later, the technicians started assembling the first prototype.
Design development
From the very beginning, several important requirements were taken into consideration in terms of defender design. Firstly, the device must fit easily in the pocket and not take up much space. The second, but not less important, requirement is the external design of the device. In other words, it should look nice even to become a stylish accessory that you want to wear on your keychain.
Marketing and promotion
Developing something useful is not enough. It is also important to tell the world about it so that everybody interested in such a device knows about it.
Promotion channels
The main information centre of the project was its website. It was designed as a Landing Page and demonstrated the possibilities of the defender and its applications.
An Indiegogo campaign, very popular at that time, was another promotion channel. We did not aim to earn money for launching the project because by that time we already had everything we needed. We wanted to achieve maximum visibility for our device.
In addition, we have used all social networks including YouTube where we have uploaded several videos.
The white hat methods of promotion used showed good results. We managed to draw enough attention to the project. What is more, articles about our device were published in the press as well as on websites specializing in technical innovations and new crowdfunding ideas.