Cary woman invents smart watch to protect women

The watch, called The Guardian Band, has a button that enables streaming video, audio and a person's GPS location to be sent to a network of "guardians" the wearer selects to alert them of possible danger.

A Raleigh woman, who did not want to be identified, said she wishes she would have had this capability when she found herself the victim of an attempted rape in New York City 18 years ago.

"I had a man grab me by the arm and drag me into an alley, and four other men were waiting for me," she said.

But she was able to get away.

"Someone let go of my wrist, and I was able to make a mad dash to safety," she said.

She did not get a good look at the men to provide descriptions to police, and they were never caught.

"It will always be a part of who I am – always," she said.

Lisa Geyer said she created the Guardian Band to help empower women when it comes to their personal safety.

"Every 10 seconds, your guardian network will receive video and audio and your GPS location," she said. "So, what this watch does is, by the press of a button, video is immediately streamed to your cloud account, and so our goal is to prevent crimes."

Geyer said the watch can be used in any circumstance where a woman is alone and may feel unsafe. It can also be used to deter crime and solve crimes.

"If I could have gotten help, and then we would have the suspects' faces on video, and then I could have gone to the police and might have actually had results for what happened," the woman said.

The watch will be available for sale online beginning on New Year's Eve. Each watch costs $175, plus a monthly service fee of $40.

Once you get the watch, you then have to set up the guardian network, which can include anyone you choose.