SCHOOL KIDS TURN INNOVATORS

High school students across cities spotted common problems faced by the elderly, the disabled, the poor and with a device here and an app there, found cost-effective solutions.

- Pritha Roy Chowdhury

A newspaper report about an elderly man dying from a fall as he had no immediate help made Soumadeep Mondal sit up and think. "My paternal and maternal grandparents also live alone in Kolkata and I love them so much," said Mondal, a Class 12 student of Birla Vidya Niketan, Delhi.

Mondal and classmate Subhi Chaturvedi discussed the issue and decided to work on a project.

They designed a low-cost, fully-automated fall detection device for senior citizens and called the prototype, VitumLinea. "The prototype alerts well-wishers even if the person stays in a different city," said Mondal. The device consists of a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit he said, "The transmitter circuit is tiny and can be attached to wearables such as belts, bracelets, lockets and other accessories but not the finger-ring as the ring is too small for the device," he explained.

Referring to a survey, Chaturvedi said that the vast majority of the elderly who took a tumble were left with many mobility issues and some even died because they were not hospitalized in time. "Our device is a notifier that informs well-wishers and neighbours about the situation so that help reaches at the right time", she said.

The device which the duo compares to an Apple watch comes for only Rs. 3,000 and has features like an alarm, makes emergency calls to the well-wisher and the nearest health centre. It also sends automatic text notifications.

The students had submitted their prototype for India's Future Tycoon (IFT), an entrepreneurship challenge for school students, conducted by EnPower, a firm that encourages entrepreneurship among school children. The challenge has led to medical equipment designs, devices for the hearing-impaired, online lessons in English-speaking, and ways to convert an Indian-style commode into a western-style one.

Dynamic Health