Bolton Clarke Wins Telstra Designing for Ageing Well Challenge with Wearable Loneliness Technology

Bolton Clarke has won further recognition for innovation, this time in wearable technology. The Designing for Ageing Well Challenge, co-sponsored by Telstra and RMIT rewards innovative thinking in design for Australia’s ageing community.

The design of a wearable CaT Pin was created in conjunction with Matiu Bush, Senior Strategist in Business Innovation with Bolton Clarke along with Leah Heiss, Lecturer in RMIT’s School of Design, considered Australia’s preeminent designer of wearable technology. Associate Professor Paul Beokett from the School of Engineering and Emma Luke from the School of Design also formed part of the team.

The pin allows the Bolton Clarke team to monitor those clients who may be at risk of loneliness through social and geographic isolation, and once assessed, the client wears a beautifully designed pin. The pin is equipped with technology which monitors baseline conversations and word count of the client. Meaningful interventions are then designed to reduce isolation for the client, either by notifying nominated local neighbourhood and family connections via text, or alerts community visitors’ schemes to arrange a visit.

Bolton Clarke’s Senior Strategist in Business Innovation Matiu Bush said of the win, “We are thrilled we can now enter into a production phase of this project, thanks to this win. Social isolation and loneliness in Australia is predicted to grow in the coming decades. The health consequences of loneliness and isolation are dramatic and can include disrupted sleep, high blood pressure, increased depression, lower immunity and lower the general feeling of wellbeing.”

“Being able to address loneliness can provide a better quality of life for our ageing population, and we know loneliness is manifested in a poverty of conversation.  Being able to monitor the number of spoken words in a day can provide a surrogate marker for potential loneliness.”

Four finalists competed for cash prizes, and the next step is mass customisation to be able to produce a considerable number of the low cost wearable pins.  This involves taking personal artefacts and items such as medals, lace, jewellery from our clients and reconfiguring those in to the wearable technology. This creates an item the client already wears or uses and is familiar to them.

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