Elderly people or people who require a high level of care would like to stay in their own homes or in familiar surroundings as long as possible. After a fall, there is a risk of helplessness and not having care available especially for frail people. Kapsch CarrierCom, the local specialist for communications solutions for fixed and mobile network providers, took on this problem with its partners. With Treventus Mechatronics, the TU "integrated study" institute as well as with the CEIT RALTEC research institute, an eHome innovation was developed which causes quite a stir. The newly developed communications network brings together impaired people with people from their social network as well as their attending staff. The jointly developed sensor and communications network recognizes the danger of falling or the fall of elderly people within their private living quarters and informs or alarms relatives and/or nursing services. Computer and sensor technology recognize the danger of falling and/or the fall. The alarm via telephone is based on Kapsch’s technology, which will be tested in its own IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) Lab with IP access to the TU Vienna’s sensor network. Subsequently the application will be trialled in the Living Lab of the senior citizen homes in Schwechat.

"The population development in Europe shows a clear trend. Due to increased life expectancy, there are a growing number of elderly people", said Thomas Schöpf, Member of the Kapsch CarrierCom Board of Directors. "Especially for this group, technology must be more supportive in their everyday life in the future. We would like to actively contribute to this with our new development", said Schöpf. Independent life at home for an elderly person will clearly be simplified by Kapsch CarrierCom’s and Treventus Mechatronics’ innovation. The solution also supports nursing services and insurance companies in performing and optimizing their activities.

The system is easy to retrofit in every home. It consists of wireless networked sensors, an interface, which receives and analyzes data and which generates an alarm in a Home Gateway if required. In the event of an alarm, the Gateway immediately establishes a phone call between relatives and/or nursing services and the person who receives care via IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem). Consequently, in the eHome system, the phone call is automatically connected so that the person concerned can immediately communicate with his or her attending staff.

 Hannes Fazekas, National Council Representative, mayor of Schwechat, and CEIT’s owner's representative said, "Very important research is performed here whose results benefit elderly people not only in Schwechat. Such developments contribute significantly to people having a longer autonomous life at home."

 About CEIT RALTEC nonprofit GmbH:
CEIT RALTEC, a subsidiary of the “Central European Institute of Technology”, is subsidized as a non-university based research institute by the city of Schwechat as part of the eSchwechat.at initiative. CEIT RALTEC combines competence in the areas of rehabilitation and Ambient Assisted Living technologies (AAL, eHomecare and eHealthcare). Our focus is the research and development of new technical solutions for elderly people and persons with special needs.

 About Treventus Mechatronics GmbH:
The TU Vienna Spin-Off TREVENTUS Mechatronics GmbH is a specialist in the implementation of mechatronic solutions. TREVENTUS takes on development to the point of mass production and performs appropriate market analyses. The TREVENTUS flagship is the newly developed and internationally patented ScanRobot® book scanner. With this interdisciplinary system, introduced in the market in 2007, TREVENTUS achieved global market leadership in automated book digitization early 2009.