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GPS Shoes For Alzheimer's Patients
A shoe-maker, Aetrex Worldwide, and GTX Corp, a company that makes miniaturized Global Positioning Satellite tracking and location-transmitting devices, are teaming up to make shoes for people suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. "The technology will provide the location of the individual wearing the shoes within 9m (30 feet), anywhere on the planet. Sixty per cent of individuals afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease will be involved in a 'critical wandering incident' at least once during the progression of the disease — many more than once," said Andrew Carle, an assistant professor at George Mason University who served as an advisor on the project. Not only will this technology allow a caretaker to find a loved one with a click of a mouse, but the shoes are more humanizing than a bell hung around the neck.
Like they'll remember to put on their shoes...
rewriting history since 2109
wandering incident?! who was the marketing genius that made it sound like a particle physics event??
Good people go to bed earlier.
It would be helpful for the patient to be able to use the shoe GPS themselves. My relatives with Alzheimers often forget where they are or where they are going, or how to get there. A small screen similar to car GPS systems could use the shoe to help the patients find their way around. On a different note, where can I get one of these for my sister?
#Computers do not appreciate sarcasm
I was wondering if I'd watered the plants or not.
GPS shoes could track... anyone wearing the shoes. Wandering children, suspicious spouses, prisoners, whomever you want.
Am I missing something, or is this story less "new tech" and more "we finally found a relatively non-controversial market." Congrats for the shareholders, but hardly newsworthy.
Personally I find this solution to be ingenious and hilarious at the same time.
If libertarians are so opposed to effective government, why don't they all move to Somalia?
The technology will provide the location of the individual wearing the shoes within 9m (30 feet), anywhere on the planet.
Just as long as they are not in a tunnel, inside a large building, in a canyon, or have any other obstacles around them that block signal from the GPS or block the signal that this device transmits, of course! Why do marketers continue to insist that GPS is some kind of magic technology that works everywhere, and ignore the limitations of technology? This probably won't even work inside some of the nursing homes where Alzheimer's patients normally reside!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
And for those adventurous Alzheimer patients who want a 'critical wandering incident' Achme is now offering tinfoil shoe coverings.
--Achme Sales Rep.
A device for forcing Alzheimer's patients to keep their shoes on.
Here, have a cowbell. Since that's the only apparent alternative.
I can't believe you don't know what a Hasemalphaginnojinglanaporphomism is.
This probably won't even work inside some of the nursing homes where Alzheimer's patients normally reside!
This is for patients who wander off due to their diminished mental capacity. If they are inside the nursing home, they haven't wandered off and tracking isn't needed.
Edith Keeler Must Die
Not much help for people searching for her is that? Nor is it much help for those who find her since the shoe is an extremely unlikely place to look for a phone number or other form of ID.
If they already need orthopedic shoes, then adding a GPS to them won't increase the cost much.
Ambulatory patients are generally dressed and undressed by the caregiver. The patient has no need to remember to put the shoes on. (At night, when the shoes aren't being worn, a wanderer in night clothes is far more likely to be noticed by security while leaving, or wandering down the street.)
It has an occasional use but for the price of a couple of pairs of shoes (and don't forget the recurring monitoring fees/costs) there's a much easier solution which has been highly effective.
Lister: Sometimes, I think it's cruel giving machines a personality. My mate Petersen once bought a pair of shoes with Artificial Intelligence. 'Smart Shoes' they were called. It was a neat idea. No matter how blind drunk you were, they could always get you home. But he got rattled one night in Oslo and woke up the next morning in Burma. You see, his shoes got bored going from his local to his flat. They wanted to see the world, you know. He had a hell of a job getting rid of them. No matter who he sold them to, they'd show up again the next day. He tried to shut them out, but they just kicked the door down.
Rimmer: Is this true?
Lister: Yeah. The last thing I heard, they sort of... robbed a car and drove it into a canal. They couldn't steer, you see.
Rimmer: Really?
Lister: Yeah. Petersen was really, really blown away about it. He went to see a priest. The priest told him... he said it was alright and all that, when shoes are happy that they'd get into heaven. You see, it turns out shoes have 'soles'.
Rimmer: Ah, what a sad story. Wait a minute.
[Thinks for a minute]
Rimmer: How did they open the car door?
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Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.