Japan's new portable tracker for dementia patients aims to find them quickly if they wander off

A large Japanese security company has an ambitious plan to arm thousands of dementia-stricken elderly folks with a portable, thumb-sized tracker, in hopes of getting them safely home if they get lost.

The country's Sohgo Security Services (also known as Alsok) has handed out 2,000 of its Mimamori tags to some 10 cities in Japan.

The tags, to be carried by the elderly, will work with a companion app via Bluetooth, which can send location data over to nursing home staff or family members.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Alsok has also rolled out a tabletop detector that can do the same.

In trials it conducted, the firm says it found that the system dramatically cut down time taken to find a missing person.

In a pilot programme in the city of Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, 12 people in two search teams, along with 30 tabletop detectors, found a person with the Mimamori tag within 10 minutes.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

By contrast, it took dozens of people roughly half an hour to find someone without the system.

But in order for the system to work properly, Alsok needs a critical mass of people and businesses to get the app or tabletop device. Since the trackers work via Bluetooth, they need to be relatively near a receiving device in order to be trackable.

If it takes off, it'll be a boon for the many Japanese cities, as the country's ageing population has meant more reports of missing dementia suffers. The country's National Police Agency said the number of cases of people with dementia going missing, jumped to 12,208 cases in 2015, an increase of 1,452 from 2014.

To get the app into more smartphones, Alsok is working with 23 companies and organisations, such as 7-Eleven outlets, and other co-ops, to get employees there to download the app into their personal smartphones.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

It's also persuading commercial buildings to place the tabletop detectors on their premises.

Alsok is getting help from city governments, at least. Koji Takeda, an official with Tama city, said the plan is for a greater push from the administration, to get more people to download the app.

"If many [people] cooperate by downloading the app, we could have a very reliable network to detect the elderly that covers the entire city," Takeda told Kyodo News.

The tags and tabletop detectors will be released to the public before next spring. Each tag will cost around 2,200 yen ($19.49), while the tabletop detectors will cost 23,000 yen ($203.80). Alsok is also planning to rent the latter out for 1400 yen ($12.41) a month.

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