Newly invented shoes with GPS to track elderly family members with Alzheimer's and prevent them from getting lost!
In an elderly person, among the first symptoms of senile dementia or Alzheimer's, is the serious problem of disorientation that emerges.
In fact, the elderly person begins to progressively lose their ability to orient themselves in a space-time context and start to feel lost even in their own home. Feeling uncomfortable and confused everywhere, they enter a state of continuous anxiety, that is sometimes difficult to alleviate.
It is in this confused state that, often, our loved ones affected by the terrible disease, wander away from their house, without even realizing it.
To those who have a family member who suffers from Alzheimer's, unfortunately, this situation will have probably happened at least once, in which the elderly person's sudden departure results in them getting lost.
In the search for a solution to the problem, a Japanese company has devised a GPS device that can be inserted into the elderly person's shoe. In this way, every time they leave without informing anyone, their GPS will show their family where they are!
via Docodemo Shoes
In Japan, they are certainly not new to this kind of innovation - we often hear about Japanese artificial intelligence, robot dogs that look real, etc. - and this time the Japanese have once again risen to the occasion.
In fact, the Wish Hills company has devised a highly innovative device, hoping to help the elderly who suffer from senile dementia or Alzheimer's to find their way home or, it would be better to say, to allow them to be found by a family member.
It is well known that elderly people suffering from this unrelenting disease do not use smartphones or watches, completely losing their awareness of time and space.
However, there is one thing that the elderly cannot do without, namely, their shoes! This is why the Japanese company has thought of creating shoes with a GPS inside that can locate an elderly person who is lost.
Wish Hills
The GPS will send a notification to the smartphone of a relative who will be able to locate the elderly person through a map that can be viewed directly on the smartphone or on a computer.
The device is designed to send notifications when the elderly person moves 165 ft (50 m), 328 ft (100 m) or 1640 ft (500 m) away from home. In this way, we hope to reduce the instances of "lost grandparents" or other elderly family members.
Wish Hills
These GSP shoes are currently available only on the Japanese market at a price that, for many people, is not exactly accessible ($298!).
In any case, this is an innovation that involves not only Japan, where a quarter of their population is over 65 years of age, but also the rest of the world.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in fact, there are 47.5 million people in the world suffering from senile dementia and, every year, there are 7.7 million new cases - data that is quite troubling and that could push many other countries to start using these innovative shoes.
