Toronto, Canada 18 October 2019 – LocateMotion was founded with the aim to help keep loved ones safe and facilitate aging in place. The start-up reaches another milestone as it gets selected by the ENCQOR 5G program, for implementation and testing of 5G use-cases for its unique IoT and AI SaaS solution for the senior homecare space.
ENCQOR 5G is funded by the Government of Canada through the Strategic Innovation Fund, along with the Governments of Ontario and Quebec as well as leading industry players Ericsson, Ciena, Thales, CGI and IBM. ENCQOR is coordinated by Innovation ENCQOR and delivered in Ontario by Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and in Quebec by Innovation ENCQOR, CEFRIO and Prompt.
The senior population in North America is growing at a very fast pace. As per the US Census Bureau, by 2030, every fifth American will be a senior citizen. Similarly, StatsCanada estimates that every fifth Canadian will be a senior citizen even earlier, by 2024.
As the baby boomer population ages, there is an urgent need to reevaluate the current approach towards senior care, to help relieve the strain on healthcare facilities and respond to increasing demand-supply gaps. This is especially important because the number of personal support workers or caregivers is not increasing fast enough to keep up with the senior population growth.
That is where technology comes in. It can play a vital role in mitigating caregiver shortages and providing a 24/7 safety net for seniors. This is why LocateMotion has created an assisted ambient living (AAL) solution that facilitates aging in place. The solution analyzes information provided by wearables, smart phones, WIFI and geo-data, to provide a comprehensive talk-track-care solution for seniors.
Its built-in algorithm tracks health and activity trends as well as patterns in movement to reduce chances of emergencies such as wandering and falls, while automating routine daily support tasks such as medication reminders. Determining the severity of each care incident, it facilitates automated or human ‘smart-responses’, improving operational efficiencies for homecare providers while providing peace of mind to seniors and their caregivers.
This process will become more seamless with 5G because of lower latency and faster connectivity. A scalable, customizable solution that comprises of an Open APIs, device & network agnostic platform, dedicated app, and remote monitoring devices; will enable senior homecare providers to improve care.
With seamless 5G, real-time monitoring would become a reality. LocateMotion, with support from ENCQOR 5G partners including OCE, MaRS Discovery District, Ericsson and Ciena, is working on the next 5G-ready version of its solution, to ensure that the provision of care is faster, predictive, and effective.
In addition to ENCQOR 5G, LocateMotion has received support from other leading institutions including the SmartStart Seed Fund, another OCE program, NSERC, IRAP (Industrial Research program) and AGE-WELL in collaboration with Ryerson University and the Govt of Canada to address this challenge.
LocateMotion is currently testing the solution and is in discussions for pilot programs in Canada and the US. The solution will be available for commercial use in Q4 2019.