Small, smart and unwired

A multi-functioning monitoring device developed by a British academic has won first prize in the UK Satellite Navigation 2007 Challenge and has come second in the European stage of the competition.

The Mobile Ambient Assisted Living device (MobiAssist) combines patient monitoring technology, GPS and wireless technologies in a compact unit that can communicate with patient care systems.

The device was developed by Eric Goodyer from De Montfort University in Leicester. He said the purpose of the project was to make the technology meaningful and accessible.

“Other projects that have explored the use of mobile telecare technology outside the home have produced devices that are often bulky and impractical,” Mr Goodyer told the British Journal of Healthcare Computing & Information Management.

“MobiAssist is different in that we will work with a group of people who rely on home telecare to ensure that what we produce is not driven by what is technologically possible, but by what works in practice for the people who would use it.”

The UK and European Satellite Navigation Competitions aim to encourage innovative new ideas around satellite navigation technology.