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My neighbor from across the street is close to 90 years old and he is partly disabled. He still lives alone, but every day someone drops by to look in on him. Last Sunday evening he fell down and was unable to get up again. For some twelve hours he had to lie on his back on the floor until the Monday morning visitor could help him.

My neighbor from across the street is close to 90 years old and he is partly disabled. He still lives alone, but every day someone drops by to look in on him. Last Sunday evening he fell down and was unable to get up again. For some twelve hours he had to lie on his back on the floor until the Monday morning visitor could help him.

This was not the first time that this happened. He has a personal alarm pendant but he finds it annoying and he doesn’t always wear it. This time he wore it, but he had shifted it to his back and when he fell, he could not reach it. Not very smart, you might think, but that is the way it is.

So here is my request to you: can you help me to come up with a smart alarm system for old and disabled people that can detect all by itself when something is wrong instead of relying on the person to press a button? It should function in such a way that the person under surveillance should not have to think about it. It must be very reliable and as simple as possible.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.