One of our CarePenguin beta testers came to us with an unusual use she found while being a tester of our product–being alerted when her cat is up to no good.
CarePenguin monitors the well being of an elderly person by observing their water use. Anytime someone turns on a faucet in their house, CarePenguin detects it. The average senior citizen uses water seven times a day. This allows their loved ones to know they’re going about their normal daily routine and notifying them when there’s a lack of activity.
Our beta tester, Darby, isn’t looking after an elderly loved one, but she did volunteer to install our sensor in her own house and receive updates on her activity to help us test for accuracy. Darby lives alone with her two cats, Salem and Mari. Because she lives alone, she’d be able to give us precise feedback on CarePenguin’s detection of her activity.
To test the accuracy of our algorithm, beta testers like Darby received text messages from CarePenguin every time a faucet was turned on and water was used. One day, while Darby was out, she received a notification that water had just been used at her house. That seemed strange as no one else was at the house. When she arrived home, she found that her cat, Salem, had turned on the faucet. He was thirsty, and why drink from a stagnant water bowl when you could feel the stream of fresh water flowing through your whiskers?
She continues to get alerts when her cat turns on the faucet for a drink. Darby’s thankful for the alerts as Salem’s favorite drinking spot is the guest bathroom sink, a room she never goes into. The alerts allow her to catch the problem quickly. “The only problem is, I can’t teach him to turn the faucet off,” Darby said.
Whether you’re looking after an elderly loved one or apparently some mischievous cats, CarePenguin accurately detects activity in the home without having to put up invasive cameras or motion sensors. While Darby was helping us test for accuracy, our current beta users do not receive alerts every time activity is detected. Current benefits of our app include:
- Being able to check in at anytime to see the last time your loved one was active
- Receiving updates on your loved one’s activity
- Receiving alerts if we detect a lack of activity