A San Francisco startup company is offering an activity-sharing experience that supports older adults’ desires to age in place.
Lively, with the hopes of generating pre-order pledges, unveiled its product line this week on Kickstarter, a funding platform that fuels creative projects from anything to films, games, music, technology and design.
Lively brings together an in-home sensor technology solution and LivelyGram, a printed mailer, which form the basis of an ongoing activity-sharing connection between older adults and their loved ones.
The product’s hardware uses cellular technology to communicate with sensors placed around the home to learn and share an older adult’s normal daily routine.
Families can monitor their loved ones’ medication schedules, time spent out of the house, even eating and drinking activity in the kitchen through “passive” sensors meant to blend into the background of seniors’ homes.
Notifications and an at-a-glance online display easily update the user and the circle of people with whom they choose to share their activities.
Lively’s system does not require any Internet connection or phone line to use, as the company’s research finds nearly 65% of older adults age 75 and up lack Internet access.
LivelyGram also enables seniors to share things like picture messages, which are automatically turned into a printed personalized mailer that arrives in their physical mailbox every two weeks.
“Older adult and their extended family miss and crave deeper connections with each other,” says Iggy Fanlo, co-founder and CEO of Lively.
The startup hopes its technology will help to solve the dilemma for the older adults living at home in the U.S., Canada and Europe who want to stay independent, while also providing peace of mind to family members knowing the health and well-being of their loved ones are secure.
Lively’s approach, according to Fanlo, leads to dignified and meaningful conversations between older adults who live on their own and their loved ones, emphasizing “how” they are feeling, rather than reminding them to do things such as taking medications.
Studies have shown that living independently encourages successful aging in place through improved health, self-esteem and life satisfaction, according to Dr. Laura L. Carstensen, founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity and Lively board member.
“Yet this can be a challenge for extended family who feel responsible for the care of their elders as they’re often ‘sandwiched’ between their aging parents and own children, while balancing jobs and parenting,” she says. “Lively’s activity-sharing products apply just the right touch to melt away these concerns and enable an entirely new avenue of connection.”
The company has set a price point of $149 plus a $19.95 monthly subscription for its aging in place technology. With a $99 pre-order pledge on Kickstarter, Lively says consumers will receive one month’s subscription for free.
Written by Jason Oliva
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