Columba GSM/GPS bracelet helps Alzheimer's patients

Medical Intelligence, a Canadian company, has developed a bracelet designed to help Alzheimer's patients by notifying family members or other people if the wearer wanders outside a pre-defined "secure zone." The Columba is monitored via Assisted GPS and has a GSM/GPRS transmitter/receiver with a SIM card for voice and data. The bracelet will be put in use for the first time in Paris this summer and should be available to the public by the end of the year.

[Via textually.org]

[010111 @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

cool. it's like those "invisible fences" you can get for dogs. only using GPS and (presumably) lacking the electric shock conditioning.

[TB @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

Not exactly ground breaking technology here. Wherify in the US have something very similar for kids.

[b0mb0klat @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

baaah be patient soon we'll all happily implant Digital Angel's chip ( in our thighs 'n arms so that we can be tracked by the popo, pay without pulling yer credit card out and maybe exchange business cards without needing paper!

Isnt progress wonderfull?

I feel so happy about this, it'll surely change the world and make it a better place for all of us, we WILL BE SECURE!

No need for freedom when you've got security hey?



"Richard J. Sullivan, Applied Digital Solutions' chairman and CEO, waxed eloquent about the market potential of Digital Angel, claiming the company has "uncovered a total marketplace that is conservatively estimated to exceed $70 billion."

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Digital Angel is powered electromechanically through muscle movement, or it can be activated by an outside monitoring facility.

As WorldNetDaily has reported, in addition to locating missing persons and monitoring physiological data, Digital Angel will be marketed as a means of verifying online consumer identity for the burgeoning e-commerce world."

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And in an interview last March, the chief scientist, Zhou, told WorldNetDaily he believes the implant will be as popular as cell phones and vaccines.

Digital Angel "will be a connection from yourself to the electronic world. It will be your guardian, protector. It will bring good things to you," said Zhou.

"We will be a hybrid of electronic intelligence and our own soul," he added.



REJOICE CONSUMERS, THEY WILL KNOW WHAT YOU DESIRE, WHAT YOU DO AND WILL DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN TO SELL IT TO YOU!

Happy shiny people holding hands!

[David @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

I hope they remember to put it on in the morning.

[S @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

That picture makes me regret not becoming a hand-model after high school...

[Jesse Hodge @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

ya thats one effed up hand.

[M @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

As someone who just found out that my grandfather has Alzheimer�s and lives in a smaller town that may not have the facilities, staffing, etc to provide the level of care that he should be getting� hearing about this device makes me glad. It may be something that I (several provinces away) as someone employed in the IT (healthcare related!) area can investigate and purchase (at cost even).

It may well be a device that can improve my grandfather's quality of care/life and provide security for my elderly grandmother and others who have been caring for him!

So to those that immediately jumped all over the negative... please be a bit more sensitive and consider those (and their families) that have to deal with this destructive and debilitating disease!

Have some compassion and think about what you post about innovations that might offer hope to those suffering!

Yes... there are boors that are all worried about privacy, etc, but all technology has the potential to be used for both "good" & "bad" reasons... and everyone�s' views on what is good & bad differ. If things are kept in perspective and ethics are kept in strongly in the forefront, these inventions and advancements have an opportunity to provide hope and safety while research continues towards understanding and finding a cure for this disease!

With attitudes like some that have posted... I wouldn't be surprised if "karma" comes back and serves you a little taste of your "own medicine" in your old age and perhaps your hands will be that old hand like the one in the picture... unable to type stupidity out anymore� and you�ll be begging for technology and devices that will help you retain that memory that slips away on you, or helps you cope when the frustration of those experiences overwhelms you.

[Bruce @ Mar 12th 2007 2:33PM]

Hello, where would I be able to buy one for my mother, who has Alzheimer?

Thanks,
Bruce