mPERS Wearables: Benefits of Hybrid Location for the Emergency Device

Maintaining quality of life has more recently become a growing challenge. While caregivers face anxiety about their loved one's safety, the mPERs (Mobile Personal Emergency Response Systems) market, an early member of the wearables industry, is stepping up to the challenge.

Traditionally, the devices - which most commonly are pendants or bracelets -  transmit from the wearer to a base unit nearby, usually within the home, dispatching to a central location. Now, device accuracy and capability are seeing rapid growth. New mPERs devices can more precisely locate the wearer and include features that can automatically detect a fall based on motion patterns. With the market growing to include even more capabilities, like monitoring vital signs - these new features are increasingly becoming the standard for mPERS devices.

The timing could not be better as seniors are more active and social than ever today - that is, they are more mobile. The mPERS industry is seeing a transition from requiring the wearer to be tied to one place to assure constant transmission of location data from the fixed location within their home - to now being much more mobile, fast and accurate with the evolution of device-level location. This ability to accommodate a senior's lifestyle and locate them at absolutely any time, anywhere, indoor or outdoor, near or far from home, is critical for device success in the marketplace. 

As advanced capabilities are moving from nice-to-have features to expected functionality, the most daunting challenge these wearables will face is differentiating their devices. These advances in mPERs technology give relatives more peace of mind about the broader well-being of their loved ones and seniors the confidence to embrace an active retirement lifestyle. Not only that, but these devices give confidence for the wearers, as they are now able to leave the house without worrying that something may happen and they could be in a situation without help.

Differentiating In a Rapidly Growing Market

Better user experience starts with the basics like using the battery efficiently and adding precise location data. Complete user experiences go a step further, adding rich layers of contextual information to fit more precisely into users' lifestyles - which are unique in the caregiver market. And beyond UX, the winners in the mPERS market will make products that users can't live without, like today's smartphones; they will be the devices users rely on and their families can too.

To be all of this to users, mPERS wearables must leverage the value of Wi-Fi and precise location rather than just GPS when looking to locate wearers outside the home. GPS is a form of location that many device manufacturers provide without thinking twice and that users have come to expect from their smart mobile devices: but what are the limits to this widely-accepted standard to location?

The Challenges for Wearables Without Wi-Fi: Optimal Efficiency and Battery Consumption

Battery Life

A reliable mPERS device must be power efficient so the wearer and their families can be confident that it will do its job. The huge barrier of use for grandma is the hassle of a dead battery: it can be challenging for her to remember or realize when it's necessary to charge her device. Using power efficiently is also critical during any medical emergency needing an immediate response.

Delivering a Precise Location 

GPS location alone cannot map indoor venues leaving seniors vulnerable to inaccurate readings when they activate the device. It also has a slow time-to-fix, taking as long as a minute to locate the wearer, potentially dangerous in an emergency.

The Solution: Hybrid Location Improves Location Accuracy 100 Percent Of the Time

Many device manufacturers are attached to GPS and skeptical to transfer to a hybrid location solution - however, hybrid location does not replace GPS entirely. Instead, it complements GPS capabilities with other tracking forms and improves location accuracy on the device.

Hybrid location allows your device to provide the most accurate and reliable location. Hybrid location combines Wi-Fi positioning, GPS, cell tower, IP, and device sensor data. With hybrid location, the device is not always on: it simply turns on intermittently to gather location data, and when the device is activated, it turns on immediately. It can report a precise location to emergency services. First responders can then be informed within moments of activation where the elder needs their help.

When a loved one is in peril, there is nothing more important than reaching them as quickly and efficiently as possible, and right now, Wi-Fi chips enabling hybrid location are the best way to do precisely that. For users, hybrid location can also lead to higher adoption rates for mPERS, as the speed and accuracy provide the reliability seniors need to feel they shouldn't have to compromise their lifestyle to live actively, socially, and confidently.