With modern women busier than ever, it's far too easy to forget something as essential as taking a daily birth control pill. And while there are mobile apps that can send smartphone reminders to take the pill, there's no guarantee those reminders get noticed.
That's where Oviary – a new project on Kickstarter – comes in: it's a birth control case that knows if it's been opened on any given day and sends alerts when it hasn't.
Oviary is an assisted example of what experts call "medication adherence" (taking one's drugs as directed). It’s a clamshell case built for women on oral contraceptives. Women using the pill simply place the blister pack inside, push one button to sync the case with a smartphone app via Wi-Fi, and then every 24 hours the case sends push notifications to remind her when to take the pill.
The first notification is a reminder to take her dose and the second text is sent in the event that she has missed her dose and provides information on how to continue to stay protected. Oviary also reminds the user to pick up a refill from the pharmacy on time. Oviary is portable and can travel and operate anywhere.
While Oviary can’t know if a pill has actually been swallowed or absentmindedly left by the bathroom sink, it does tracks whether or not the case has been opened and will keep reminding until it has. So that’s one step closer to effective contraception.
A team of two doctors, an engineer and a designer is behind Oviary.
Oviary will be available in August 2016, with the Kickstarter running until 31 August 2015.
