Innovation

Carnegie Mellon's Quality of Life Technology Center (QoLTC) is expanding and hiring with a three-year, $1.5 million Innovation Award from the National Science Foundation.

QoLTC develops innovative, intelligent systems to improve the lives of the disabled and the elderly, especially those whom need special assistance or live alone. The grant will benefit the QoLTC Foundry, giving companies that spinout from the center a jumpstart by assisting them as they move into the marketplace. So far, the foundry has spun off three firms: NavPrescience Inc., VibeAttire Inc. and Invynt LLC.

The center is run jointly by Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh.

"We've evaluated more than 70 technologies associated with QoLTC and many of them have commercial promise," says Curt Stone, director. "With the greater resources made possible by the NSF, we think we can spin out even more of these as companies and create more than 100 jobs in the Pittsburgh area over the next five years."

The foundry plans to expand its programs by hiring people with entrepreneurial experience and develop undergraduate and graduate internship programs.

Also this week, QoLTC received a $480,000 grant to continue research on a wireless sensor system that detects subtle struggles in the everyday activities of older adults, changes that may suggest the onset of dementia or physical infirmities. The sensors, embedded in everyday items like pillboxes, sinks and beds, are designed to determine if an individual is waning mentally or physically.

"The loss of the ability to make a sandwich, dial a phone, or take medications correctly often occurs gradually and, particularly for people who live alone, insidiously," said Anind Dey, associate professor in Carnegie Mellon's School of Computer Science. By detecting the decline at an early stage, the situation may be stopped or reversed, alerting caregivers and families to a need for more closely supervised care.

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Writer: Deb Smit
Source: Anind Dey, Bryon Spice, Carnegie Mellon University