At first glance, the small plastic disc Jeff Murphy is holding in his hand looks like it belongs on a shuffleboard deck. It’s flat and round, and probably would glide to some good points.

But the disc – known officially as the iCcold sensor – is anything but a game piece, and its real-life application is no laughing matter.

In fact, it could end up saving someone from injury this winter, maybe even death.

“If it prevents on slip and fall, it pays for itself 10 times over for years,” said Murphy, product manager for Traction Technologies Inc.

The iCcold sensor is one of the newest products developed by the Kamloops company. It’s made from a custom blend of plastics injected with thermochromatic dye, which forces it to change colour according to temperature, much like those old mood rings from the 1970s.

At room temperature, the disc is a pale flesh tone. But in freezing conditions – the kind of conditions that produce ice on a sidewalk or treacherous black ice on a highway – it turns bright orange.

“It’s basically a chemical reaction that occurs,” says Traction Technolgies engineer Casey Dundass.

What’s unique about the disc is the narrow range of temperature within which it turns colour. Through trial and error, the engineers were able to adjust the level of dye so the sensor operates within three degrees Celsius.

The concept was invented by a Portland, Ore., coffe shop owner who wanted a device that would alert motorists to black ice – that thin layer of ice that forms through rain, mist or fog and is nearly impossible to see until it’s too late. The Oregon inventor patented his idea, but until Traction Technologies approached him three years ago, he had not been able to take the sensor from concept to production.

“It’s taken lots of production and development to make it work,” said Murphy.

“We had to refine it and tweak it.”

The company spent three years developing the sensor, with the expectation that it would be of particular interest to governments responsible for roads and highways, but something unexpected happened. Traction Technologies started getting interest from companies and organizations wanting to improve pedestrian safety at their entrances and walkways.

The company is now working on a number of tentative deals to have the discs embedded outside various businesses and institutions, and is expected to make an announcement about the deals shortly.

In the meantime, Traction Technologies is also busy placing one of its other products in the marketplace – an automated tiedown system for transport trucks. The device replaces the need for truckers to crank their loads right with a pry bar, which has caused severe injuries over the years.

Traction’s system is called the Cinch. Together with iCcold, it’s expected to bring international recognition to a firm dedicated to transportation safety.

“We’re looking forward to seeing two powerful brands come out of Kamloops,” said Murphy.