Smart walking stick tracks people with dementia to help them live at home longer

A smart walking stick that can track the movements of a person with dementia at home and alert care staff to any unusual actions, has been invented by an industrial design student.

James Bayliss who is in his final year at Loughborough University, designed the walking stick called 'AIDE' to "extend the period of independence people with dementia have in their own home".

GPS technology and a heart rate monitor in the walking stick allows an individual with dementia to be tracked and monitored.

James Bayliss said: Behaviour mapping is also possible, with everyday routines captured "without doing invasive surveillance on someone, you can build up an understanding of how they're moving about their house". The walking stick comes with Bluetooth beacons that can be placed around the person's home and a wall charger. As the person moves around their house with the walking stick, the stick communicates data to the beacons and this data creates a ‘behaviour map’ unique to the person.

AIDE can identify unusual behaviour – for example, if a person is in the bathroom for much longer than usual, or if the stick moves in a certain manner, which may suggest a fall and can alert care staff via an app.

Care workers are notified when a person's behaviour strays from a normal routine, if someone gets confused or disorientated because of their condition.

The smart walking stick, enables a care worker to intervene when necessary without having to be present all the time, which gives the person needing home care a greater amount of independence.

Mr Bayliss aims to bring a functioning prototype and app to the market to support people with dementia.

He describes his stick as a "safety net" to help people stay independent in their own homes for longer while "reducing the strain" on care workers.