The Defender is a camera-equipped smart pepper spray can

Smashing though a $100,000 funding goal on Indiegogo in less than two days, the Defender is a pepper spray device with a built-in digital camera that captures an image of the person being sprayed. Immediately connecting to your iOS or Android smartphone over Bluetooth, the attacker’s image is forwarded along to a 24/7 monitoring center along with the GPS location of the smartphone. According to the project details, this monitoring center relays the user’s location and the image of the attacker to the local police department in order to dispatch the authorities right away.

Defender has taken connected technology in a different direction than many startups, electing to incorporate it into what is essentially a canister of pepper spray. The device is bid as a connected personal defense system, and has recently been successfully funded through Indiegogo. The Defender is a relatively small cylinder-shaped device equipped with a camera and Bluetooth connectivity, the latter of which allows it to be connected to one’s smartphone. Through this connection, it will automate the process of alerting authorities. The device works in a simple manner. When the button is pressed, the canister sprays pepper spray, and simultaneously snaps a picture of whatever is in front of the device — in this case, whomever is being blasted with pepper spray. That picture is sent to a control center along with relevant details through the user’s smartphone, and the appropriate authorities are sent the information — just police if a single button is pressed, but a secondary one is also available for requesting medical help. When Defender launches, the monitoring service will have a price tag of $15 to $20 monthly alongside a two-year plan.