You might remember NTT‘s electronic bracelet that identifies and tracks the wearer’s actions and that we showed you back in September last year. It now turns out the Japanese tech powerhouse has further developed the concept in the meantime: earlier this week in Tokyo, NTT showcased [JP] the latest version (there is now an English site, too).
NTT’s pitch is still the same: Japan already has the world’s oldest society and things won’t get better anytime soon, meaning there will be demand for technology that helps people to keep track of the well-being of their older relatives remotely.
The bracelet is equipped with a mini camera, a microphone, and sensors for acceleration, light and direction.
If you brush your teeth with the gadget on, the system detects the movement and an avatar on the screen starts brushing his teeth, too. Data of every action can be processed, visualized and sent over the web (or stored for future reference): people can keep track of what an older person is doing from morning to evening.
NTT is thinking about implementing this concept in tele-healthcare applications for the elderly in the future, but the bracelet is still in prototype mode.