28/11/2025
A research team from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of UWB won the safety category with smart boots and gloves that track firefighters, police and paramedics even without satellite signal. Ninety-three projects from across Czechia entered the Smart Cities competition this year.
When firefighters charge into smoke-filled buildings and basements where they can’t see beyond their own hands, a tiny tracker hidden in their boots, paired with a light-based guide in their gloves, maps every step they take in real time. The system, developed by a research team at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, helps them stay oriented, while commanders follow the exact position of each unit on a tablet. The smart gear was created hand-in-hand with firefighters, who had long been missing anything of this kind. “The built-in navigation can even lead rescuers straight to the person in danger. In a crisis, that can make all the difference in saving lives,” said Radek Soukup, one of the authors of the project.
More: https://info.zcu.cz/Smart-boots-and-gloves-from-UWB-won-the-2025-Smart-Cities-contest/clanek.jsp?id=8870