Life
A New Gadget Wants You To Stop Forgetting The Pill
More than 10.5 million Americans with fertile wombs rely on birth control pills for pregnancy prevention, which comes out to approximately 28 percent of the population. Despite The Pill remaining in the lead for the most commonly used long-term contraceptive, there has not been any change in birth control pill packaging since the 1960s. Additionally, only 50 percent of those who rely on The Pill use it perfectly — meaning that another 50 percent forget or skip pills, contributing to high rates of unplanned pregnancy. And that's why Jessica Walter, OB-GYN, joined forces with another doctor, an engineer, and a designer to invent Oviary, an electronic birth control case that alerts its user when it hasn't been opened in 24 hours. Oviary reminds the user to take the pill, or notifies the user that a pill has been missed. As described on its Kickstarter page, it “fits into the lives of modern women on The Pill." It has an operating system that connects to the user's smart phone through a custom app. There are already numerous apps that alert users when they must take scheduled medication. I personally use those kinds of apps for medication, but I still find myself forgetting a dose or taking it much later than planned. Oviary recognizes this issue, and takes its alerts a few steps further by actually interacting with your specific birth control medication. So once users have downloaded the app, they must place a month's worth of birth control pills (a blister pack) into the case (blister packs of every shape and size will fit).
Oviary works because, through the app, it connects to your home WiFi and alerts you of your pill status by sending you a text message. The case is equipped with a 24-hour alarm sensor, including a visual tracker of missed or taken pills on the case lid. It will first send you a reminder text message if a certain amount of time has passed but the case hasn't been opened. If a full 24 hours passes by without Oviary being opened, then your phone will receive a text message notifying you of the missed dose and providing helpful information for what you can do to continue preventing pregnancy. Oviary is portable, so it can travel with you and remind you to take your pill wherever you go. In addition to alerting you if a pill has been missed, it will also send text alerts to remind you to refill your prescription.While there is no information about Oviary's potential retail cost, you can donate to its Kickstarter campaign in hopes that those who depend on The Pill will soon find this exciting, helpful gadget on store shelves. You can also watch a video to witness Oviary in action. Just as The Pill revolutionized many reproductive lives in the 1960s, the team behind Oviary hopes that they will continue the revolution by "[saving] millions of women the anxiety of pregnancy tests and Plan B every year. We want to make a dent in the billions of dollars we spend every year on unintended pregnancies," which would save American women "$760 million dollars in out-of-pocket healthcare costs on pregnancy tests, Plan B and co-payments," according to Oviary. Perfect pill use could also reduce hundreds of thousands of abortions and unintended pregnancies yearly.While Kickstarter has been in need of a “sexual awakening," (having rejected most campaigns involved with the sex industry), Oviary isn't the first campaign with hopes to positively impact our sexual and reproductive lives:
1. MUA Box
The MUA Box was actually the first adult product to make it onto Kickstarter. It is an elegantly designed, thus discrete, storage device meant to safely store numerous sex toys. The MUA Box is also portable, meaning you can take it back and forth to a partner's place. It can also charge toys while they are inside the box, and allows you to input a passcode to ensure privacy.
2. Girl Sex 101
Girl Sex 101 is a radical, feminist, queer comic book created by Allison Moon and illustrated by kd diamond. It was successfully funded on Kickstarter and “aims to change the face of queer sex education forever." The comic features queer-specific sex tips and STD protection information missing from so many sex education courses.
3. Feminist Style: Consent-Themed Underwear
Feminist Style was a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign that counters the objectifying messages featured on "sexy" underwear marketed to young woman ("ready for anything", "take me home") or sexualize "no" ("no peeking"). Instead, the underwear designs incorporate slogans like "I <3 Consent," "My dress does not mean yes," "Talk to me," and "Ask me what I like." Feminist Style's mission is to "sell products that target sexism to promote gender equality, and use the proceeds to produce feminist advertising" in hopes that it will spur other companies to do the same.
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