"Smart" brace designed to keep elderly from falling

CNN reports that a group of Stanford University students have designed a vibrating ankle brace intended to help the elderly avoid falls. The device uses a chip that monitors the position of the wearer's ankle—if it detects a roll it deems dangerous, the brace will vibrate, sending a signal to the person's brain that they need to correct their position.  They say the development of the device is still at the preliminary stages, however, and that it requires more testing. Let's just hope they test it on themselves before surprising grandma with an early birthday present.

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

Does it work for alcholics 'cause I'll buy one for...a friend.

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

Hmm, gran and grandad might well get the 'Oh sh*t, i'm about to fall over' message, but will they actually be able to react to stop themselves keeling over anyways? For a lot of elderly people a roll that the device 'deems dangerous' could well be beyond the point of no return. Same goes for alkiehoolics my Man...

[Atanas Boev @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

lol, I am wondering how they will do the actual testing;) It is like, 15 grannies with the bracelet and 15 without it, and there is some guy pushing them to the ground?

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

OK, so let me see here. My grandmother fell over last year and broke her hip. Just when, on here downward journey to the tarmac, would this thing shock her brain into preventing that?

[blore40 @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

Make sure Granny wears the "vibrating" brace on her ankle and not somewhere a little north ;-)

[Stephen Searer @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

This technology should be applied to everything. Here are some good ideas I've come up with:
1) Parachute didn't open? Now you'll know when the smart parachute sends a signal to you brain letting you know you should have packed an extra chute.
2) Lost your keys? The smart keys will send a signal to your brain letting you know you should find them.

Oh the endless possibilites!

[cream0fcow @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

The school name is spelled "Stanford" unless you're mocking them, then the rival schools say "Stanfurd."

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

I think the device is supposed to make the person aware of the fact that he or she is not walking in a safe manner. It doesn't necessarily go off when you fall, just when it detects a poor step.

In other words, it just tells you when you're at risk of falling due to poor walking.

[DirtyF-ingNotch @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

Hey, bottom line is, you goddamn birds are the biggest collection of riff raff I've ever seen in my life. If old Holt were here, he'd just drop trou and take a big, smelly rhino dump on this whole message board.

[DirtyF-ingNotch @ Dec 19th 2005 2:14AM]

Hey, bottom line is, you goddamn birds are the biggest collection of riff raff I've ever seen in my life. If old Holt were here, he'd just drop trou and take a big, smelly rhino dump on this whole message board.