Wearable Sensor Detects Falls, Automatically Calls for Help

Olea Sensor Networks has announced a new wearable device aimed at helping the victims of injurious falls.

Called BalancedSense, it’s smaller than a standard business card and weighs under an ounce, and can be worn as a lanyard or in a shirt pocket. It’s outfitted with sensor technology designed to detect when the wearer suffers a fall, which then automatically triggers an alert via Bluetooth technology. With no special action required from the wearer, it could render critical assistance when it’s most desperately needed.

In a statement announcing the device, Olea CEO and CTO Frank Morese cited World Health Organization data in asserting that 42 percent of people aged 70 and above suffer a fall each year, highlighting the need for such a device. Morese also suggested that BalancedSense “is adaptable to assist in athletic performance training in many sports such as golfing or gymnastics.”

The company showcased its cardiac biometrics technology at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, and it’s coming back to CES 2017 to show off BalancedSense in January.