As the application of artificial intelligence (AI) plays an increasingly important role in people’s daily lives, the senior‑care products market is no exception. According to
Hanshin Technology Limited, a Hong Kong smart‑technology company and an exhibitor at the 16th Hong Kong International Medical and Healthcare Fair, the elderly face various daily challenges while products empowered by AI technology can help improve their quality of life and reshape their lifestyles. In the highly competitive elderly care products market, the use of AI can help Hong Kong companies stand out from the crowd in the global market.
AI helps keep seniors safe and healthy
Cheung Kam‑kwan, Sales Representative of Hanshin Technology, told HKTDC Research that market demand for “AI+elderly care” smart products was huge, explaining: “Compared with the traditional senior‑care environment, AI technology can more effectively resolve senior health and safety problems, such as showers for elders and patients, fall risks and solo living challenges. In view of this, apart from developing different AI‑empowered elderly care products for sale on the local market, we are also actively exploring opportunities for selling to markets overseas. In particular, as the size of the global silver market is enormous and demand for relevant products is brisk, we are taking advantage of our age‑tech products to ride the wave of the booming silver economy in countries and regions around the world.”
Elderly people at traditional senior‑care homes or medical institutions have been encountering all kinds of health and safety issues, with falls being the most common incidents. In particular, during the night or at times when no care providers are around, the lack of timely assistance may lead to serious consequences such as broken bones or becoming bedridden. In this regard, fall prevention is a key concern in elderly care.
Cheung explained that the company’s HANSHIN-eCare brand emphasises high efficiency and precision in helping to prevent high‑risk patients such the elderly in hospitals and senior‑care homes from falling, adding: “For instance, our AI bed exit prediction and detection system uses AI technology to monitor the vital signs of the elderly, including respiration rate, heart rate, blood pressure etc., in a bid to predict their movements in bed. Unlike similar products on the market, our system can detect the intention of the elder to leave the bed before they actually get out. In case there are any signs of bed exit, an alert would be issued notifying the responsible person so that the care giver can take immediate action to prevent the elder from falling.
“Meanwhile, the safety of old people living alone is equally worth noting as they may encounter various risks and challenges. Our company’s eCare@Home products are designed specifically for them. For example, the neighbourhood alert call is a contactless remote monitoring system through which an alarm bell outside the door would be triggered automatically should any abnormal activities of the elders living alone be detected. Meanwhile, our AI smart mattress offers multiple practical functions, which include sending real‑time emergency messages to the mobile phone of the responsible care giver or family member, thereby helping the elders to effectively meet the challenges of daily health issues and their carers to provide timely support.”
Hanshin Technology has its own research and development team as well as a production plant. It has 25 years of experience in manufacturing smart products for the education sector, which are exported to many countries and regions. In recent years, the company’s eCare brand has been devoting great efforts to advancing geron technology, using micro sensors in combination with AI computing and cloud services to develop and launch a range of AI‑empowered products such as the AI fall detection system, AI bed exit prediction and detection system, anti‑wandering system, and automatic smart shower machine.
Capturing global silver market opportunities
According to Cheung, in addition to co‑operating with different elderly care homes and medical institutions in Hong Kong, the company also leverages its market experience to actively explore opportunities abroad, especially those arising from the silver market in Europe, selling products to senior‑care homes in a number of markets in the region. He added: “Our valuable practical experience is highly approved by overseas clients. It has come to our attention that the ageing population in Europe is growing rapidly, especially in countries like Germany and Italy where the proportion of old people is high. As the elderly in these countries are increasingly receptive to age‑tech products and the local primary healthcare facilities are excellent, the demand of many institutions for age‑tech products is strong.”
Apart from the European market, those in Southeast Asia also deserve attention. As the economies in the majority of the region’s countries develop in leaps and bounds while their ageing population continues to expand, these countries are becoming more open to gerontechnology. Cheung continued: “The enquiries received by our company recently show that the interest of Southeast Asian countries in high‑tech medical products is growing. For instance, medical institutions in Singapore and Malaysia are vigorously looking for highly cost‑effective solutions and are interested in Hong Kong tech products. In light of this, we will keep a close watch on the development of the silver market in Southeast Asia in the hope of further capturing market opportunities there.”
