The German startup LAQA, with assistance from Telekom, has developed a connected drinking cup that reminds care patients that they need a regular liquid intake, records their drinking behavior digitally and eases the work burden of their carers.
“By connecting our innovative SmartCups we can offer carers significant support in their daily work, enabling them to concentrate on their care work proper for the wellbeing of those with whose care they are entrusted and to spend less time on time-consuming documentation.”
Bernd Hoffmann, Managing Director, LAQA GmbH
Challenge
Care workers regularly devote over 30 per cent of their working time to administrative activity such as keeping records of patients’ drinking behavior. The Munich-based startup LAQA has devised an innovative solution that helps care workers to prevent patients from suffering from dehydration.
Solution
LAQA designed a connected drinking cup with sensors that record the user’s drinking behavior and remind him or her by means of light, sound or vibration to drink regularly and to drink enough. To connect the SmartCup reliably, Telekom provided the support of its TechBoost startup program and IoT Solution Optimizer in choosing the right wireless technology and hardware. A wireless module in the base of the cup transmits sensor data and other information from the SmartCup to the Open Telekom Cloud for documentation and evaluation using the NarrowBand IoT (NB-IoT) mobile communications standard.
Customer benefit
Carers no longer need to keep and check paper records of the quantity and regularity of liquid intake and if need be to personally encourage the user to drink more. That saves time from which patients benefit in other ways. Automatic and data protection compliant records kept in the Cloud provide the care facility with a continuous overview of users’ drinking behavior. They in turn benefit from the health adcantages of regular liquid intake. LAQA drinking cups should in future also be able to register the hand tremor of Parkinson’s patients or to document the progress of an Alzheimer’s condition. Thanks to networking provided by Telekom LAQA is thereby able to offer customers an increasingly wide range of services.
Do you want to find out more?
Smart Aides for the Care Sector
Read our blog to discover how LAQA supports patients and relieves caregivers with the smart drinking cup.
