Smart Utensils For the Future by Manjusri ALP
Pitch
Smart utensils to support the growth of the market for elder consumers and national initiatives in active ageing.
Description
Make life easier/more difficult for Singapore?
Easier
Describe the change
Nutrition is a crucial health determinant in elderly. With Singapore's greying nation, 1 in 5 residents would be at least 65 years by 2030. Hence, smart utensils can be invented to monitor the nutritional status of the elderly thus reducing their nutritional compromise given their physiological & psychological constraints.
By 2030, dining experience for the elderly can be enhanced with smart plates & mugs to assess nutritional values of their meals. Functions of a smart plate include LCD displaying calories, sugar, fat & salt levels via a tricoloured indicator-Red(Excessive), Amber(Keep in Moderation) & Green(Appropriate). Microchip in the plate stores these information for further clinical and epidemiological assessment. To keep to an age-friendly design, the smart mug also utilizes the tricoloured indicator to highlight the sugar level in a beverage. In addition, a built-in thermostat in these smart utensils ensures that the food & beverage is not too hot or too cold for consumption.
How will this change impact Smart Nation Singapore in 2030?
Eldercare provision in this proposal operates in multi-prongs. Equipping them with a set of smart utensils aims to enable them to live safely and independently. With the user-friendly tri-coloured band indicators, analysis of the critical tolerance of calories, sugar, fat and salt is self-regulating, allowing the elderly person to take charge of their own health.
Targeting at lowering the number of trips to hospitals or clinics and improving elderly’s health-seeking behaviour, the stored nutritional information is monitored by the health practitioners. Review and advice on the nutritional data charted over a month can take the option of a tele-conversation.
Increasing the affluence of elderly leads to a safer environment, which in turns increases the number of healthy elderly with less money spent on medication.
By:
Manjusri ALP