Hello Kate,

I would say our idea is most promising. Our idea is not developed enough to go to market or a pilot study, but needs to be further developed and the feasibility needs to be further examined. Nonetheless our idea could have a great impact, because it overthrows current fall prevention strategies and tries to solve the problem on a technological basis. If our prevenders are able to prevent people from falling, many other technologies, like fall detection technologies, could become obsolete, because falls would simply not happen anymore. This impact on concerned seniors would be even greater. They wouldn't need to fear falls and they wouldn't need to suffer from fall related injuries. This would enable them to live an independet and confident life. Also society would benefit, since it wouldn't need to take the costs for fall related injuries and since seniors could live longer on their own the need and costs for retirement and nursing homes would decrease rapidly.

Hello Mariah,

1) Yes you are right, it is not proven yet, that the prevenders can actually prevent falls and as you stated there is a good chance that they can't. We are currently exploring this with our first prototype and see where we need to change things or introduce new designs, that also include the lower body.

2) This is actually a great idea, which could easily be introduced in retirement homes. The only question is if old people would accept this solution. We experienced that many don't want to show that they are in need of help and feel already uncomfortable with the SOS-bracelet. By the next chance I will talk to a retirement home about this.

Thank you very much for your feedback!

Would be great!