Fujitsu unveils futuristic walking cane for the elderly

Japanese technology giant Fujitsu has developed a futuristic walking cane for the elderly or disabled that allows the family to keep track of their heart rate, and know where they are.

The Tokyo-based company unveiled a prototype of the 'Fujitsu New Generation Cane' at this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain that features GPS, Wi-Fi, mobile connectivity, Bluetooth, heart rate monitor and an LED panel on the top to display information.

The cane provides mobile navigation and health management services for the elderly who have difficulty leaving their homes but can now adopt an active lifestyle. The design takes into consideration how devices can be useful in the  daily lives of the elderly and deploys services that are integrated with social infrastructure.

Since Japan has the largest population of senior citizens, Fujitsu said the cane was built with the elderly in mind, but could also be used by people with disabilities and even hikers.

The lower part of the cane is made of glossy plastic and curves all the way around the contoured handle and curves all the way around the hand in a loop. The top part of the handle holds a screen that displays useful information like big green arrows showing direction, or large numbers in large font showing heart rate.

Also on the handle are indicators for the Wi-Fi, battery status, mobile connectivity and GPS functionality that can be used to track the user's walking path through a Web application.