Trackable schoolwear in development

Lancashire-based school uniform manufacturer, Trutex is developing clothing that will carry satellite tracking devices so parents can keep tabs on the whereabouts of their kids.

The idea came out of unprecedented demand for such clothing from around the world, after the company suggested the idea in a survey that ran at the end of the month on its website.

The online survey carried out by the manufacturer found 59 per cent of parents would be interested in buying uniforms fitted with global positioning system (GPS) technology.

Trutex marketing manager, Clare Rix told IT PRO that the badges and colours that are a feature of school uniforms already act as a safety feature, helping to identify which school a child attends and perhaps making it easier for truant officers to pick out truants on high streets. She added that the idea of adding GPS came as a natural extension to this.

"It seemed the next logical step, knowing the technology was out there to do achieve this," she said.

Trutex is now in talks with a number of manufacturers to develop a range of uniforms with the tracking capability, that will also retain the hard wearing features needed to withstand the everyday rigours of schoolchildren's activities.

Rix added that there were a couple of different approaches under discussion: one was to limit the functionality of the tracking device so it only issued alerts once a child left a limited area, like a school's premises; the other was the more common, always on tracking device that parents could use to check on their kids' whereabouts wherever they were in range of a GPS receiver.

Being so early on in its development, Trutex was not able to say what if any privacy issues would be involved, nor which method of tracking it favoured. "It all comes down to cost and complexity," said Rix, adding that the company is looking to potentially launch a range of trackable uniforms in time for the beginning of the 2008 academic year that would be aimed at the 9-12 year old age group.

A UK GPS reseller, who preferred to remain unnamed added that, as embedded GPS devices get smaller, this capability was not outside the realms of possibility. It also said the functionality already exists to deliver tracking software to a parent's PC using location-based websites, such as Google Earth, for example; or to send tracking coordinates and alerts to a variety of mobile phone models.

Trutex's initiative comes only a week after an Essex-based Kevlar security clothing manufacturer, BladeRunner launched stab-proof jumpers and blazers after parents requests and off the back of their popular stab-proof hoodies.

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