Gemalto Helps GPS Develop Wristwatch Solution for Caregivers of People with Autism

On April 2, 2013, the World Autism Day was observed with an aim to attract the attention of more and more people across the globe toward Autism Spectrum (News - Alert) Disorder (ASD) and the ways in which the lives of those with ASD and their caregivers are affected by the disorder. Around 30 million people across the globe live with ASD or Alzheimer’s disease, while more than 60 million caregivers have been ensuring they are safe and secure.

Gemalto (News - Alert), a provider of advanced digital security solutions, has helped Global Positioning System (GPS) to develop a new wristwatch solution that offers round the clock global cellular communications and GPS tracking to enable the caregivers and family members of Autistic people in taking better care of them with less hassles. The company is present in 43 nations worldwide through its 83 offices and 13 Research & Development centers and creates enhanced machine to machine (M2M) applications and solutions that play a vital role in fulfilling various needs related to personal mobile services, payment security, authenticated cloud access, identity and privacy protection, eHealthcare and eGovernment efficiency.

Tony Fama, chief executive officer at GPS, has a son with ASD and was moved with the consistent responsibility that caregivers of autistic people have to carry out, while keeping a constant eye upon them lest they lose their way.

The new wristwatch device has been named TRiLOC GPS Personal Locator, and a two-year-long research comprising of numerous interactions with caregiving associations and parents of children with special needs went into the development process of the solution.

“TRiLOC gives my son greater autonomy and reduces the need of constant supervision. With the tethering accessory, families or caregivers can plan trips to museums, shopping centers, and even busy theme parks without the enormous stress of the individual wandering off,” Fama said.

Apart from allowing the caregivers of Autistic people to keep track of them in an efficient manner, the TRiLOC device also makes sure it’s not necessary to personally supervise them every moment, day and night. M2M technology by Gemalto runs a GPS Personal Locator Device (PLD) that offers exact location of the people with ASD, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Further, details of this location are forwarded to the mobile phone or computer of the caregiver. The device is equipped with a hands-free two-way voice calling feature that helps the caregivers in responding to an immediate need initiated by the person with ASD through an SOS (News - Alert) button.

“It is really rewarding to see our technology truly changing the lives of people with special needs, in this case those who are prone to getting lost,” said Jure Gantar, Middle East manager for the Machine to Machine division at Gemalto. “As a result of our miniaturization efforts we have produced our slimmest module to date. With this solution, we can help improve the security and convenience of citizens by leveraging the full potential of the wireless and digital worlds around us”.

In March 2013, Gemalto announced that Safaricom, a mobile operator from Africa with over 18 million customers, selected its LinqUs Cloud Backup solution to offer mobile subscribers in Kenya a comprehensive back-up service for phonebook contacts.