It has been several weeks now of In Pe development and we are getting close to finalizing our initial prototype before the Rome Makerfaire. As you know, In Pe is a device developed as a result of WeMake’s hosted codesign sessions. It is based on a real story, where a caregiver was about to loose her mother, who fell down while being alone, and the caregiver couldn’t be alarmed. The existing market solutions are sometimes “embarrassing” or not appealing enough or not comfortable to wear, which makes them less efficient, as the person in need of care, will simply avoid them. In Pe (which means Standing Up in Italian), is a simple opensource, customizable device, that can help caregiver stay in touch with their loved ones, while keeping in mind that the designed solution is appealing enough for the person who needs care, so that they are actually using it.
Our solution simply depends on detecting a fall and calling a caregiver. Once the fall is detected, then this person will receive a call that the person fell down and the caregiver can react. Our particular solution is designed as a bracelet that the elderly or person who needs care can wear in his wrist, but we are currently checking other forms of usability that can fit different needs.
The project is composed of a sensor that detects the fall, a GSM module that sends a signal when a fall action is detected, and then the caregiver received a call. All hardware and code is opensource. It is not a newbie level kind of opensource project, but through documentation and some makerspace/fablab help, any caregiver is able to replicate and personalize it.
We are currently in testing phase where we are checking both the usability and the sensor accuracy. We are testing different falling scenarios, such as testing to detect a fall while skateboarding, for example, we are also testing different usability scenarios, to check if the device could be sued for individuals with different needs.
Moving on, we will be developing different iterations of the device in order to both meet different needs of functionalities and to provide a different appeal for In Pe. The Rome MakerFaire is almost a week ahead, where we look forward to have a chance to present our concept to a broad audience, receive more feedback, and get in touch with more future testers or replicators. Stay tuned to our next updates.