Interior ministry pursues new disaster-response smartwatch research project

The interior ministry said Tuesday it will launch research into a smartwatch linked to the disaster-safety communications network, seeking to reduce the equipment burden on police, firefighters and local government officials at disaster sites.

Responders currently must carry and operate a network terminal, radio and personal mobile phone at once. Heavy and overlapping radio traffic can make it difficult to discern critical information and instructions.

The project will develop the watch alongside an artificial intelligence system that analyzes, summarizes and sends alerts on radio traffic. It will also monitor users' heart rates, skin temperature and location.

The ministries selected the project after surveying central government agencies and local governments last month and consulting experts. It is the final of 11 research tasks planned for 2026, after projects covering response technologies for wildfires, ground subsidence, maritime accidents, heavy snow and flooding.

Research institutions can apply from Aug. 7 through Sept. 7. The selected institution will receive about 900 million won ($636,087) in research and development funding over two years from the two ministries.

"We will actively support the project so that the smartwatch developed through this research can become equipment that strengthens the government's disaster-response capacity," Park Hyung-bae, head of the interior ministry's safety prevention policy office, said.

"We will apply artificial intelligence and wearable-device technology to the disaster-safety sector to build a safety infrastructure that can be felt in the field," Kim Seong-su, head of the science ministry's research and development policy office, said.