Robots that can interact with elderly and infrared sensors to prevent falls – but the technology out of price range for the Hongkongers who need it most
Senior citizens and home care operators take in range of innovation on display at city’s first Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit
Rebecca Chau Tsang, an elderly home operator, has her eye on an infrared sensor, one of the new technological products on show at the city’s first Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit – an event aimed at enhancing public awareness of technology and innovation for the elderly – over the weekend.
The device will be ideal to monitor the safety of dementia patients under her care.
But with a price tag of HK$35,000 for each installation on a bed, the innovation may still be far from Chau’s reach.
“It is rather inhumane now to prevent falls by restraining the limbs of the elderly and ensuring that they remain in bed, but we have no other choices,” said Chau, whose private care home in Tuen Mun houses up to 120 elderly people.
