The Connected Places Catapult (CPC) has announced the names of the five companies that will work on the housing technology testbed projects in Northern Ireland.
It has revealed details of plans for the Homes for Healthy Ageing programme, which involves a consortium of agencies in Northern Ireland running trials of digital solutions to support older people in their homes.
Along with Sunderland, Northern Ireland is one of the first two of five testbeds under the programme, providing scope for SMEs to test solutions that could make a positive difference. The Sunderland project is focused on solutions for cold and damp homes.
The Northern Ireland project is focused on reducing loneliness and social isolation, and will be supported by:
- Ethel care, which supplies a digital platform to support remote care for vulnerable people;
- Kraydel, which has the Kraydel Connect TV based service for social connectivity and internet of things monitoring;
- Thriving AI, the provider of a digital application that draws on machine learning and artificial intelligence for the communication, co-ordination and monitoring of integrated care;
- Treasured Times, which provides a digital application to help elderly people stay in touch with their families;
- and Walk with Path, using wearables to provide feedback to reduce the risk of falls.
“A testbed is one of the most important tools we use to facilitate the scaled adoption of innovative new products and services,” CPC said.
“Through providing a low risk, real world environment where innovators can deploy solutions, capture feedback, and use this to improve them. A testbed can form the final step on an SME’s journey to launching a mature product or service.
“It can also serve as a valuable environment within which a product or service can be demonstrated to potential buyers or investors, giving them confidence in the performance of the solution, and ensuring that it is tailored to the needs of users.”
The partners will work together on the two projects over the next six months.