The Ansimi App

About the city. Crime in South Korea is among the lowest compared to other developed nations. At the same time, South Korea is at risk from a variety of natural disasters.

Goal

The main goal is to help citizens return home safely at night, prevent domestic violence, date violence or inform about natural disasters through a simple operation of the app (power button, screen touch and shake).

Implementation period. On May 2, 2017.

Fact

The Republic of Korea is prone to numerous natural hazards, including typhoons, floods, droughts, landslides, snowstorms, tsunamis and earthquakes. Heavy rainfall and typhoons are the most frequent and destructive.

Solutions

Ansimi App is a 24-hour smart one-stop safety network that is connected to some 40,000 closed-circuit television feeds installed across Seoul to monitor real-time situations and provide rescue support at all times.

How Ansimi works?

To use the ‘Safe Return Home Service,’ touch the safe return service menu on the main screen of the app → enter the destination → touch ‘Start Service’ → your current location will be delivered to the control centre of your administrative district in real-time and a returning home message will be sent to your emergency contact. → after arriving at your destination, touch ‘End Service.’

When an emergency situation occurs during the use of the safe return service, touch the Help button on the screen or shake your smartphone several times. In 10 seconds, the control center will receive an emergency call. If you pressed the wrong button by accident, press Cancel within 10 seconds. When you issue an emergency call, an automatically taken photo or video (set in user settings) will be sent to the control center.

The control centre of your administrative district will monitor the user location info that appears on the situation board. An emergency alarm will ring when an SOS request has been received. Once the request is deemed valid, it becomes an emergency situation. The in-house police will be dispatched and take appropriate action.

SOS Report. What is it?

Shake smartphone to immediately send photos/videos or the scene

Simply shake the smartphone to use the emergency call (SOS report) feature. Photos or videos of the scene (set by user settings) and your personal information along with current location will be sent to the control center of your administrative district.

In the case of android phones, an emergency call will be issued if you shake the phone, even if the home screen is locked, or press the power button three or more times. The intensity of shaking can be adjusted in the environment settings to suit your needs. Accidental SOS reports that have been made due to running is to be filtered out at the control centre through viewing of the photos (videos) of the scene. The user can also cancel the report within 10 seconds.

Download the app via Google Play (android) or App Store (iPhone) and sign in before initial use.

Challenges

Potential difficulties may arise for older people who have not mastered the app. That is why the application is made in a fairly simple interface.

Team

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG).

Timeline

By September 2019, the app has been used in 9,781 cases of emergency calls, 24,064 cases of return-home surveillance, and 2,263 cases of scouting.

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