IBM-patented floor can detect heart attacks

Soon, floors may be more than just surfaces to step on: they may actually save lives by detecting medical conditions and calling for appropriate response, thanks to advances in surface-based computing, a tech site reported.

 

Tech site CNET reported the potentially life-saving technology as patented by IBM can detect the shapes and weights of objects in contact with the floor.

 

"IBM, which filed for a patent describing such a system in February 2009, is now, just more than three years later, the proud holder of said patent. What it does with it remains to be seen, but the initial vision is clear," CNET reported.

 

Citing the patent abstract, CNET said IBM “uses an electronic multitouch floor covering that has numerous sensors to identify shapes.”

 

One of two primary applications involves smart surveillance that may result in fewer false alarms than current systems that require disarming before entering.

 

The other involves medical monitoring.

 

"For example, an elderly person may have fallen on the floor and cannot get up, or a person may have suffered a heart attack or other possibly life-threatening incident. If a health alert is detected, then decision 965 branches to 'yes'... whereupon... appropriate action is taken (e.g., contact emergency medical services (EMS), sound alarm, notify a caretaker, etc.)," CNET quoted IBM as saying in the patent.

 

But CNET also said there may be concerns raised about the system being programmed to detect and store "far more personal details." — TJD, GMA News