Vodafone Spain and Qualcomm - helping the elderly
The Vodafone España Foundation (FVE), the Spanish Red Cross (CRE) and Qualcomm have announced an alliance to launch a pilot project named “3G Connecting Generations.” The project aims to take advantage of HSPA broadband technology to connect the elderly to their caregivers and families by unifying voice and videoconferencing through a familiar device like television.
Apparently the video conferencing system will stimulate plenty of social interaction – in addition to which the Red Cross is goin to be able to do health checks of the participants. On top of that, there is going to be a networking function to allow members to increase their social circle, download content (like exercise videos), and also games, to help them stay active.
One hundred people will participate in this initial trial, of which the majority are in some way disconnected (usually by distance) from friends and/or family. Day centres will also be involved, having the technology installed there.
3G Connecting Generations was based on the experience gathered by the Spanish Red Cross and the Vodafone España Foundation through the PLATAS project, which was financed by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce as part of the 2006-2007 Advance Plan.
Wow – good on Vodafone for doing something like this to help a segment of society that is all too often discounted from advances in Mobile Tech.
[Via: Cellular News]