Hi-tech walking stick

By Aussiegirl

Sounds like a great idea! (The illustration is a photo of Charles Dickens's walking stick.)

Ananova - Hi-tech walking stick

German scientists have developed an intelligent walking stick that calls an ambulance if the owner falls over.

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Development in Kaiserslautern invented the 'i-Stick'.

It's part of an ongoing Assisted Living project to use technology to help elderly people.

If a sensor in the i-Stick registers that it is in a horizontal position, for example if its elderly owner has fallen over, it sends a signal to a control unit which plays a message telling the owner to pick it up.

If the stick remains on the floor the control box is programmed to call either an ambulance directly or a chosen relative.

I-Sticks have yet to hit stores but the scientists are currently looking for a distributor.