Gadgets Developed for Elderly and Infirm

Researchers at the School of Informatics and Glasgow University's School of Computing Science have developed a vibrating wristband which acts as a reminder device and a bowl which lights up when easily-lost items such as keys are placed in it.

The MultiMemoHome project, which began in 2009 and is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), is designed to help older and disabled people live more independent lives.

Behind the devices are a series of "multimodal" technologies which harness sound, vision, smell and touch to create interactive systems easily understood by people with cognitive or sensory difficulties.

We've taken significant steps to developing products which easily interact with each other and are fully customisable, so users can set them up to work in ways which they can easily understand and react to. A fully-wired house could track a person through their day, providing reminders for medication or meals, ensuring they remember their appointments or preventing them from missing phone calls or calls at their front door.