There are two fears that ever parent goes through at some point in their lives. The first of course if the mind numbing fear that can consume you when a child goes missing. The second is those families with elderly family members who are suffering from advanced stages of Alzheimer’s and at some point wander off leaving no idea of where they have disappeared to.
Into this scary scenario two companies have come together to create an incredibly simple, but innovative way to make finding these wandering suffers of a very nasty illness. Shoemaker Aetrex Worldwide and GPS experts GTX have joined together to create the shoes.
Carle said embedding a GPS device in a shoe was important because Alzheimer’s victims tend to remove unfamiliar objects placed on them but getting dressed is one of the last types of memory they retain.
He said a “geo-fence” could be placed around a person’s home and a “Google Map” alert sent to a cell phone, home or office computer when a programmed boundary is crossed.
“The shoe we intend on developing with Aetrex should help authorized family members, friends, or caretakers reduce their stress and anguish by enabling them to locate their loved ones instantly with the click of a mouse,” said Chris Walsh, chief operating officer of GTX Corp.
Source: Physorg.com
I love this idea and it is amazing how some of the simplest technology can bring about some of the best ideas.
[hat tip to Slippery Brick and Crave ]
