Fresh out of high school, living in a retirement home: Teens move in to develop fall detection system
They moved in for research, but Ayaan Esmail and Rishi Mehta say they'll be taking more than data with them
A Scarborough retirement home has two unlikely guests for the holidays: two young men, both recently out of high school.
Ayaan Esmail and Rishi Mehta moved in earlier this year to do research to develop a new fall detection system for seniors. They've been living among the residents for seven months now.
"In order to really understand our users and take our products to the next level, we needed to live with them," Mehta told CBC News.
The sensor clips to a waistband and monitors for falls, collects data and alerts residence staff.
Residence owner Marie-Josee Lafontaine says the pair are a welcome addition to the community.
"The residents are thinking that they're going to adopt them, right?" she joked. "They've forged relationships with them. And when you forge a relationship, you build trust."
Mehta and Esmail say when they do eventually move on from the residence, they'll be taking more than just data with them.
"We sit down with them at dinners, breakfast, lunch and we get to talk to them and just hear these stories every single day and also just hear about what day life is like," Esmail said.
"We're like really good friends with them now."