Grant: Engage Grants Program

iGO international is a Waterloo-based company which designs and develops the iGOSafe Mobile Security Solution, which currently combines GPS technology with a web-based incident management software platform. The iGOSafe is worn by the users, like a bracelet, for safety and security application and is targeted to different market segments such as seniors, kids and people with mental disease. The current first generation version of the device is able to send alert messages based on the rules that are defined by the user's location, taken at one minute intervals. In order to enhance the capabilities of the device, it is necessary to increase the frequent of GPS data, and also add in other body-based sensors such as accelerometry, heart-rate, or skin temperature. This would allow in particular, a much detailed accounting of user activity, events and circumstances that could trigger safety and security alerts. Dr. Doherty has considerable experience developing rules to automatically detect similar situations using one-second streaming GPS data from smartphones, and currently holds an NSERC grant to expand this system to include accelerometer data for improved physical activity tracking and minimization of battery consumption. This project will improving iGOs service package by adopting these capabilities to iGO second generation bracelet, plus lead to development of wholly new rules to detect unsafe situations or events pertinent to iGO unique offering target markets. This would include at least the following (to be modified/expanded on further collaboration): 1) Trips and Falls; 2) ""Wandering"" patterns of mobility; 3) Unusual length/locations of inactivity; 4) Trips in vehicles when they shouldn't be occurring (e.g. during school hours); 5) Unusually long periods of time spent within the home; 6) Declining amounts of walking/mobility; 7) Missed appointments or activities. These features will provide new ""triggers"" for unsafe situations to be embedded in the iGO platform (e.g. iGOSafe, iGOAgeless), along with expanding the overall daily lifestyle and physical activity reporting capabilities of the system.