‘Edisse Watch’ Lets Carers Track If Elderly People Fall, Coming Soon to Kickstarter

I consider it as a privilege to have my 83-year-old grandmother staying with me. She cooks delicious peranakan dishes and interests me with her childlike curiousness. But she gets a little stubborn sometimes – especially when it comes to climbing on chairs to retrieve items from hard-to-reach places, despite having a helper at home. There were two occasions where she fell, and it was heartbreaking to learn of it after getting back home. Fortunately, there was someone at home who could attend to her immediately. What about those older folks who live alone?

Sydney-based startup, Edisse, makes what it calls an innovative and lightweight watch that aims to minimize the risk of elderly people not being attended to when they fall. The watch has a built-in fall detection system, which works on an algorithm using accelerometer data. So if the wearer falls, it sends a notification to the nominated carer via the Edisse app on his or her phone.

So apart from detecting a fall, it also collates reports with details information such as the areas where elderly are most prone to falling and a general overview of the number of falls. As it works on mobile technology, there will be a SIM card slotted into the watch, which allows a carer to track in real-time via its mobile app and web applications, anytime and anywhere.

The startup is looking to countries out of Australia, such as the United States and China for expansion. I would think it’s feasible for them to enter into the China market, since many children move to cities for work opportunities, leaving their elderly parents back in their rural hometown. Japan is another viable market to look into, since it is experiencing a serious ageing population problem.

Edisse is also part of the inaugural Sydney Incubate program, where the idea came about during a technology venture class that was run at the University of Sydney. The team is looking at charging on a subscription basis of AUD$30 (US$31) to AUS$50 (US$52) per month, but full details will be out when the team lists its product for crowdfunding on Kickstarter in the next couple of months.