The rise of wearable tech for the elderly

braceletthatThe last year or so has seen a huge rise in the number of mobile and wearable health technologies, with many of them aiming to help the elderly in some way.

For instance, last year I wrote about a Spanish project that aims to use sensors built into most smartphones to measure things such as heart rate variability in senior citizens.

A similar ECG style service was also released last summer.  The project, called LifeTip, provides users with a tag that they attach to their bra so that it can monitor your heart and alert emergency services in the event of something going wrong.

This kind of device is obviously fantastic for people who live alone, and a similar market is being targeted by a new wearable innovation emerging from Spain.

The project, known as Cualli, was developed by Mexican Francisco Lopez-Lira Fennel, and provides users with a bracelet that will monitor their health and alert emergency services should they suffer any kind of mishap.

He wanted to design something simple and easy to use that would provide round the clock assistance to the wearer.

The device comes with three built in sensors to monitor pulse, movement and temperature.  It also comes with a built in audio channel, some small speakers and a microphone to allow communication either with a call center or a relative.

The device is capable of making an emergency call via a wi-fi connection.  As you’d imagine, it also comes with its own app for both smartphones and tablets that allow relatives and caregivers access to the data recorded via the device.

The device is purposefully created to be as straightforward as possible.  It isn’t trying to be an interactive smart watch, it’s designed to be as easy to use for elderly adults straight away without a long lead time as they figure out how to use it.

It’s hoped that the bracelet will allow medical staff to observe and monitor patients without the person having to be physically close by.  With data uploaded every 30 seconds it provides a rich history of the patient for the doctor to analyze, with around three months worth of historical data stored to provide a strong back story.

The project was a finalist in the I am an entrepreneur, I am of the Mutua innovation challenge.  It’s hoped that the product will soon make it to market, both in Europe and America.

Certainly something to keep an eye out for.

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5 thoughts on “The rise of wearable tech for the elderly

  1. I can tell you that living with an elderly parent is NOT easy. I recently started a blog publishing "chapters" from my life on that topic. Some are incredibly funny, some release emotions.

  2. This is an awesome post. Really very informative and creative. This sharing concept is a good way to enhance the knowledge. Thank you very much for this post. I like this site very much. You can visit here. wearable technologies is exploding world wide. For information, reviews and fun facts about wearable technology, fitbit sleep tracker and best fitness band etc.

  3. Excellent job on this article! I truly like how you presented your facts and how you produced it interesting and simple to realize. Thank you.

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