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Patients may be given more freedom to roam, since they can be watched from afar.
A GPS-Enabled Shoe To Track Alzheimer’s Patients
FastCoexist.com - There are currently 5.2 million Americans with Alzheimers, but as baby boomers continue to age, that number is expected to balloon, with one out of eight boomers (10 million people) developing the disease. Alzheimers is incurable--though there are plenty of research initiatives trying to change that--but in the meantime, it’s possible to leverage today’s technology to protect seniors from some of the mind-wasting properties of the disease. One deceptively simple solution: the GPS-enabled shoe.
Pronews 7: New GPS shoes to track alzheimer's patients
Imagine having the security of knowing where a loved one who has Alzheimer's is at all times.
Insight: Two Dimensional GPS Solutions For A Three Dimensional World
By Patrick Bertagna, CEO, Founder + Chairman, GTX Corp.
Sat Magazine - May 2012 - The Global Positioning System—GPS—is a worldwide radio-navigation system that is formed by a constellation of 24 satellites that communicate with their respective ground stations. The Global Positioning System is mainly funded and controlled by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The system was initially designed for the U.S. military. However, over the past 10 years, there has been a widespread introduction of innovative ways to introduce the GPS technology into the private sector; in fact, so many that other countries are now deploying their own none-military use GPS systems in order to fill the increasing global demand for location information on people and products.
Next Generation LBS: It's More Than Getting From Point A to Point B
What do Alzheimer’s patients, dogs, your mischievous child, and letting someone know that you are running late have in common? On March 27, the CommNexus LBS SIG presents the latest consumer focused LBS technologies from GTX, Tagg (from Snaptracs, A Qualcomm company), TCS and Glympse.
The GPS Shoe for Wanderers
The term "track," as it pertains to shoes, is no longer only associated with a "track and field" competition. The new trend in the shoe market is shoes that use a global positioning system (GPS) located in the heel of the shoe to actually track the location of a person. Originally developed for serious runners and misplaced children, these GPS shoes have found a promising market with seniors who have Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.
NJ company offers GPS-enabled shoes for those with Alzheimer’s
April 05, 2012 - TEANECK – A Teaneck-based shoe company has a solution to keep track of loved ones with Alzheimer’s.Aetrex has released a GPS-enabled shoe that allows family members to monitor the location of the person wearing the shoe. The company says caregivers can also receive mobile alerts if the person leaves a specified area.
GPS Shoe Now Featured in 100 Most Important Inventions of Mankind Exhibit
March 9, 2012 - The GPS Shoe has joined the permanent collection of the National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm, Sweden being featured in an exhibition highlighting the 100 most important inventions in the history of mankind.
Read the full story and view more photos
GPS Sneakers The Latest Development In Managing Elopements (wandering)
National Center for Assisted Living
(FOCUS Magazine) - March 2012
Global Positioning Systems (GPS) devices are no longer just for cars and cell phones. They can help caregivers find residents with memory problems who have eloped. Providers can protect people who are at risk for elopement and allow caregivers to keep an eye on residents within a certain geographic area, thanks to a new sneaker equipped with a GPS.
“The biggest benefit of the sneakers is that residents view the sneakers as a shoe and not a device that is monitoring them.”
- Andrew Carle
Step Into the Global Positioning Shoe
Technology developed to track missing children now helps the families of those wiith Alzheimer's disease.
A tiny microchip is offering peace of mind to the families of a loved one with Alzheimer’s. The special chip-equipped shoe tracks someone who wanders and sends out an alert when the person goes beyond a pre-assigned area near the home.
AARP's "Inside E Street", aired on 200 PBS stations across the U.S.
Personal Location Devices and Applications Market
GPS Tracking for Family, Lone Worker, Elderly/Health, Pets, and Others
Despite the fact that the personal location devices and applications market has been around for a number of years, it is still in the very early stages of development. The potential is huge, with a large available market, a clear benefit in the technology, and the potential of legislation as a major driver. The market has made progress, with many of the barriers around cellular M2M connectivity having come down, yet it remains hampered by fragmentation, high prices, and a lack of awareness. There is a consensus within the industry that the market is large enough to support hardware and smartphone applications. Many are now looking at ways to combine both. T raditional hardware vendors like GTX Corp and Connexion2 have launched their own applications, while application developers like Life360 are looking to use their huge installed base as a way to drive additional revenue through hardware.
Teaneck company's GPS shoe helps track Alzheimer's patients
NorthJersey.com - Joan Verdon - January 27, 2012 - A Teaneck shoe maker has joined with a California technology company to create a shoe that uses GPS technology that records where a wearer walks – and can send alerts to caregivers if someone suffering from Alzheimer's disease or dementia wanders away and gets lost.
A family in Virginia has been using the shoes for the past month, as part of a trial set up by an elder-care expert, to keep track of an 83-year-old husband and father who scared his wife recently when he wandered away while she was grocery shopping. The man's son now gets alerts on his cellphone showing his father's location. "So if I lose him, I can call my son and he tells me where he is," the man's wife said.
Technology Nana Will Love
The Star Tribune - January 31, 2012 - There are some tech tools that are actually useful for older adults -- and might even save lives.
If someone you know is suffering from dementia, the chances that they will wander off and get lost at some point are high -- up to 60 percent in the case of Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia. And up to half of those who are not found within 24 hours may die, from dehydration, exposure or injury.
You might not be able to stop Mom or Dad from wandering, but thanks to technology, you can make sure they will never get lost.
Missing East Bay Man With Alzheimer’s Found In NYC
CBS San Francisco .com (CBS / AP) - January 19, 2012 - Newark, CA police say an 81-year-old man who was missing for a week has been found 3,000 miles away.
Cmdr. Robert Douglas said Jude Hunter of Newark suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and was reported missing after he didn’t return to his residential care home on Jan. 10. He had missed a ride home from a doctor’s appointment in East Oakland.
GPS Devices in Shoes a Growing Solution to Wandering Alzheimer’s Patients
GTX sets goal on worldwide network, ships more miniature GPS devices to Aetrex Shoes
SeniorJournal.com - Jan. 18, 2012 – Caregivers are increasingly turning to miniature 2-way GPS embedded in shoes to monitor the location of senior citizens afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, according to GTX Corp. The company announced the second delivery of 1,500 GPS devices to footwear-maker Aetrex Worldwide.
Tracking Shoes
Technology Review - January 2012 - Alzheimer’s patients can sometimes wander away and become disoriented. For patients at risk of getting lost, these shoes have a built-in GPS receiver and a data transmitter in the sole, allowing the wearer’s location to be tracked. The shoes are charged via a USB connection in the heel.
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