Who wouldn’t want to live at home as long as possible, independently, and autonomously? Living at home in old age with the right support is possible.   

Aging at home is a desire shared by many seniors. Whether as a couple or living alone, seniors want to stay in their familiar surroundings, with the necessary support when needed. Entry into a retirement or nursing home is delayed for as long as possible. For most seniors going to a nursing home is only considered when absolutely necessary. 

However, aging at home requires barrier-free apartments, age-friendly environments, as well as services and intelligent technologies. “Living with services” is suitable for independent seniors who want to be autonomous and independent but desire support and security in their daily lives. The ETH study on the research project “Aging at Home” outlines concrete courses of action. Service offerings, home technologies, and emergency call systems play a significant role in “aging at home.” 

Helpany offers a way to make seniors’ well-being visible and inform their relatives when they need help. The radar-based device named Paul can sense human motion, providing valuable insights into physical activity, daily routine and behavioral habits through the user-friendly Helpany app.  

Paul detects millimeter movements by looking for frequency shifts in the recorded spectrum of its transmitted radio wave signals, which are caused by reflections from a moving person. Different kind of movements create different kinds of frequency shifts which are leveraged to create distinguishable signatures for every motion pattern observed. This is the underlying principle of how Paul is performing its sophisticated AI-based motion analysis. Instead of just detecting that there is motion or an absence of motion, Paul understands what kind of motion, how the motion and where the motion in space has occurred. That is why Paul is truly a motion analysis expert, all without using any microphones or cameras.  

Paul is placed in the room where the senior spends most of their time. By adding additional Pauls in other rooms where significant time is also spent, you can receive additional motion alerts and enhance motion monitoring capabilities. 

Paul offers the possibility of staying at home longer by providing a information for you and your loved ones to connect and get help when needed.