TECH BYTE: Cane Goes High-Tech
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — We often think about getting kids gifts for the holidays, but we can’t forget our seniors.
Some of them can benefit from a new high-tech cane.
The CAN Go Smart Cane is similar to a smartphone, but for older adults.
“It comes preconnected and it actually has a number so it could be used as a cell phone replacement,” said Joe Drygas, AT&T. “There’s only a few buttons on it – one of them to call a caregiver, another button I can actually scroll through and I can see all of my steps. So if I wanted to track how many steps I took, how far I walked in a day, how many active minutes I’ve had, I can track all that here with a press of a button, and all that information gets put up in a portal that I have access to. I can give access to my friends, my caregivers, my family members, or even my clinician, so it’s great for that as well.”
Cell phones can be intimidating to some seniors, but Drygas says this cane is actually easy to use. It can only hold one phone number.
“The reason for that is we want to make it really simple, and it’s a single push button,” he said. “However, let’s say that my preset number, Matt in this instance, was going to be unavailable for a week. I can easily go into the portal, and I can change that to anybody else, but the purpose of that is so it’s automatic, and it’s preset, and it’s also really important in case I get into any kind of trouble.”
Especially if the user falls. They can get the help they need more quickly.
“Let’s say I was going for a walk and I was falling, the cane automatically detects that motion,” Drygas said. “It’s starting to beep. It’s vibrating. It’s flashing, and I can press a button to cancel it if I’m OK, but if I didn’t press this button, it automatically patches through my caregiver, and in the event that I was unable to communicate, my caregiver can go onto a portal and see exactly where I am because of the built-in GPS functionality.”
The cane even has a flashlight feature if they’re walking at night, and it’s hard to see.
CAN Mobilities developed the smart cane, then AT&T takes care of the network connection.
“This cane actually has a SIM card in it just like a mobile device, and AT&T takes care of the connectivity,” Drygas said. “This cane will work anywhere in the United States wherever you could use your mobile phone.”
Drygas says it holds a charge for about 48 hours, and it’s easy to just plug in overnight.
You can buy the cane online and through Best Buy.
It costs about $400.
If you talk to your insurance provider, you might be able to get reimbursed for it.
