Elderly people lean on The Aid

Leaving the house can be a challenge for elderly people.

To provide physical and mental support for them Lithuanian designer Egle Ugintaite created a special walking cane called The Aid.

The Aid provides mobile navigation and health management services.

It can monitor the user’s pulse, blood pressure and body temperature, all displayed on an LCD screen on the cane’s clasp.

The cane comes with a built-in navigator, providing a help centre with the user’s location when the cane’s SOS button is pressed.

The design, which won first prize in a Fujitsu design competition, takes into consideration how IT devices can be useful in users’ daily lives and deploys services that are integrated with social infrastructure.

Aged care is becoming an increasingly important industry in Australia as a result of our ageing population so any technologies that allow the elderly to maintain some independence will prove valuable. What can you come up with?