New Wireless Products Target the Largely Ignored Senior Market

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- San Francisco-based Lusora Inc. launched today at the prestigious DEMO@15! conference with a suite of wireless personal security products designed to protect the independent lifestyle desired by so many older Americans. The company's Lusora Intelligent Sensory Architecture (LISA) enables seniors to stay in constant contact with relatives or care-providers via a Web interface that delivers data gathered from Lusora's patent-pending wireless sensor devices. Lusora's first two programmable, ZigBee-compliant sensor devices include a wearable pendant that detects a person's fall and triggers an alert, and a tiny digital camera embedded in a light switch to view activity in a room. (Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050214/NYM100 ) "Most technology companies seem to have a big blind spot when it comes to addressing the senior market. Lusora is one of the few that's planning ahead for the imminent explosion in the number of seniors and is developing products that will give seniors one of the things they want most -- the ability to continue living in their own homes," said Chris Shipley, executive producer of DEMO, which is well known as the launching pad for the world's most promising new technologies. Lusora's LISA is a wireless personal security system that leverages the latest technologies to safeguard homes and families. The system has three main components: remote wireless sensor devices, a central hub that controls the devices and a Web-based remote viewing platform from which to program the devices and monitor the data they transmit. The company's technology solves a number of the installation, power and reliability problems associated with traditional wired security and monitoring systems by using the newly adopted ZigBee wireless protocol. ZigBee supports applications where being wired is impossible or impractical and where ultra low power and low cost is a requirement. Lusora's light-switch camera and personal alert pendant, along with other LISA sensors placed throughout the home can be programmed individually through the LISA Viewing Platform to monitor the unique habits of the person or people living there. For example, if a bedroom door is not opened within a particular timeframe that is normal for the person, an alert can automatically be sent to the care-provider(s) via the Web interface, cellular messaging or email. Lusora's first product suite addresses one of the most pressing issues of the century -- how to care for the unprecedented number of seniors in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the first wave of baby boomers will start turning 65 in 2011, and the number of seniors in the United States will increase dramatically during the period 2010 to 2030. The older population is projected to be twice as large as in 2000, growing from 35 million to 71.5 million, or 20 percent of the U.S. population. "Lusora's technology is all about communication and community. We've done our best to make the technology invisible by embedding it into everyday devices that everyday people who don't have a lot of technical skill can easily set up and depend upon to provide constant and reliable information about their home and family members, particularly the seniors in their lives," said Dan Bauer, co-founder of Lusora. The Lusora Intelligent Sensory Architecture (LISA) includes the following three main components: LISA Sensor Devices -- The LISA Pendant is a wearable device that includes an emergency panic alarm, tracking device and automatic fall sensor. The device has sophisticated electronics for measuring sudden gravitational changes such as those experienced in a fall. The device can be calibrated to prevent false alarms. -- The LISA Light-Switch Camera contains a miniature camera, passive infrared detector and audio, all integrated into the light-switch housing. This allows visual monitoring in any room without the need for camera mountings or extra electrical wiring. The cameras can be programmed to operate continuously, or turn on only when they receive instructions from the LISA pendant. -- The LISA Tag, which is approximately the size of a credit card, monitors activity such as motion and temperature changes. Typically, tags are placed on doors and windows throughout the home or residential care unit, as well as key places in the house such as medicine cabinets and refrigerators to measure for specific usage. The device has tiny sensors that detect any movement from the tag itself, or infrared from a human moving near the tag. Each tag uses a lithium battery and is designed for 3-5 years usage LISA Hub The LISA Hub acts as the intelligent controller for all of the sensor devices and communicates with the LISA viewing platform. The hub controls each sensor device and allows for two-way communication of voice and data across the local ZigBee wireless network, local WiFi network (if present) and the encrypted Internet uplink. The hub allows for a choice of communications possibilities from DSL/cable to WiFI or GPRS/paging options. LISA Viewing Platform The remote viewing platform is a Web-based interface that allows caregivers to control, adjust and monitor the LISA hub and sensor devices. Simple rules-based systems can quickly be configured to allow for automated care procedures.