Wearables for frail seniors [Resources-Tools]

Abstract

This is the final installment in a three-part series looking at exemplars of products that demonstrate how wearable devices are increasingly infiltrating everyday life; previous articles have looked at a wearable baby monitor and an activity tracker for pet dogs. In this article we look at wearables that monitor the health of elderly people unobtrusively. Rather than giving family members details about the wearers' daily activities, these systems function in the background and raise alerts only if anomalous behavior occurs. Satish Movva lives just 10 miles from his parents and, as a dutiful son, sees them once a week. But last year, during a routine visit, he was surprised to see his father shuffling his feet. It had begun several days earlier, but his parents had not bothered to tell him. Movva knew, however, that shuffling could be a warning sign for serious health conditions such as heart failure.