A radio you don't need a hand to use.

First responders lose access to a hand and a few seconds every time they answer a call. R+ moves the radio onto the neck and the controls onto a gesture, so communicating costs neither.

Project type

Wearable hardware
Public safety equipment

Role

Industrial design, interaction design, prototyping, user testing

Recognition

IDA Gold

Overview

The radio is the most important thing first responders carry, yet it fits the most awkward.

R+ is a radical new approach to the communication devices used by first responders during their shifts; it reduces the time, error, and weight added by these devices and makes the most fundamental aspect of their duty - communication - always accessible, easy, and understandable.

The objective of R+ is to reduce the physical weight of existing radios and eliminate the need for extra steps, and limbs when operating and communicating with dispatch.

Instead of having to clip, or be stuffed inside pockets, where the radio becomes the first to detach from the person of the Officer - R Softly hugs the Officer's neck and can always transmit any command with its flexible body.

The challenge

Four ways the radio works against its user.

Responders are carrying, climbing and holding people, and the radio is what they reach for most. Every reach interrupts the job, dozens of times a shift.

It feels like a tank

Bulky units built around electronics, not a twelve-hour wearer. They fall off during duty.

It's in pieces

Unit on the belt, mic on the shoulder, cable between. Everything can snag or get lost.

The same motion, all shift

Reach, grip, raise, press, speak, release, lower. For every single message.

The bow

Dipping the head to the shoulder mic takes the eyes off the scene at the worst moment.

During emergencies it's impractical for officers to lose access to one of their limbs to communicate.

R Plus is

Designed for Duty

R+ is designed for being always present for the officers, while still not coming between them and the task. The compact nature allows it to be worn under uniforms and with other equipment and also doesn't mess with the hair of officers.

A Flexible construction lends the R+ the ability to securely stay on officers’ necks during physically intensive activities while being comfortable and adjustable to different neck sizes.

Being on the move is cruial

Handsfree Operation is non-negotiable

Personalized head and shoulder gestures lend R+ to start broadcasting messages to others without the use of hands, helping officers focus better and be more aware of their surroundings.