New smart specs for seniors, to help them get around and contact family members, have been developed by California-based company IngenioSpec.

The specs wearer can access the glasses, smart functions though a one-button interface on the temple, which can summon a digital assistant (in the user’s preferred language), place calls to contacts and respond to questions such as ‘What’s the major news?’, ‘Have I walked enough today?’ and ‘How do I get home?’ If the digital assistant can’t help, it will connect the user to a live professional operator who can be accessed at any time by simply tapping the button twice, said IngenioSpec. The technology can also provide automatic reminders for eating and taking medications, detect falls and continually measure the user’s key vital signs, and even send a caregiver to check on the user. The specs are also waterproof and charge automatically when placed in their case.

“IngenioSpec’s stylish, easy-to-use, patent protected, smart eyewear assists seniors to maintain independence, facilitating fast, automatic communication and providing guidance through daily activities… (enabling) seniors to retire their worries, not their lifestyles, and offer loved ones the sound of tranquility of relief,” said the company.