This photo provided by the Yangcheon Ward office shows GPS devices ‘smart shoe insert’ (L) and ‘smart keeper.’
SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Korea Bizwire) – ‘Smart keeper’ and ‘smart shoe insert’, two GPS devices distributed by a municipal office to help keep tabs on dementia patients, are contributing to shortening the time spent tracking them when they go missing.
The watch-type smart keeper and the smart shoe insert provide location information, helping search activities when missing-person cases occur.
The Yangcheon Ward office in western Seoul noted that since they were first distributed in July, a total of seven missing-person cases were solved through GPS tracking and most of those who were reported missing were found in less than one hour.
When two elderly citizens with dementia were reported missing on Aug. 4 and 6, the district office succeeded in finding them in 40 minutes and 15 minutes, respectively, after receiving the reports.
Through participation in the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s smart city project, the district office distributed the GPS devices for free to 558 residents within the district starting from July.
Together with the police, it established the control center to track the location of those who are reported missing in real time.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
