Nokia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with St Luke's Eldercare (SLEC) to co-develop and conceptualize innovative solutions for the elderly. As part of the MoU, Nokia and SLEC are trialing Asia's first fall prediction video analytics application.
SLEC is an aged-care service provider with an extensive network of senior care centers around Singapore, providing center-based daycare, day rehabilitation and nursing services; and home-based medical, nursing and therapy services.
The solution leverages Nokia Bell Labs' proprietary video analytics technology to create an unobtrusive and continuous monitoring system to determine the likelihood of an elderly person falling. The personalized and predictive solution will analyze information about walking speed, gait width and step width, and predict and send an alert when there is an increased risk of the person falling.
This application will be integrated into Nokia's IMPACT IoT Platform in the next phase, to allow the caregiver to view and collect information from the solution and other sensors that the elder is using.
"Our partnership with Nokia aligns with our commitment to meeting the evolving needs of our patients, clients and caregivers, and our long term vision of transforming community care,” said Dr. Kenny Tan, Chief Executive Officer of SLEC. “We hope that by trialing this solution with Nokia, it will enable significant improvements on fall risk prediction, early intervention, and care provision before seniors suffer an injury."
A joint study on eldercare IoT innovation, developed by Nokia and the Eden Strategy Institute, revealed that one-in-three elderly Singaporeans is likely to experience a fall once a year, with resulting injuries contributing at least S$1 billion to total healthcare costs.
Being an experienced aged-care service provider with an extensive network of senior care centers around Singapore, SLEC's role is to provide guidance and feedback on the software development process.
"Nokia is committed to transforming digital healthcare and our innovative solutions aim to make a real difference in the lives of people,” said Danial Mausoof, head of Strategic Marketing, Asia Pacific & Japan for Nokia. “By empowering the elderly to live independently through personalized and predictive solutions, we are shaping the future of technology to transform the human experience, accelerating a digital future and reimagining healthcare in Asia."
