Ibilight

Currently more than half of the Dutch elderly are lonely. Loneliness promotes depression, impaired cognitive performance, dementia progression and is associated with poorer health practices. To maintain a healthy and positive lifestyle, this means that we need to support older adults to overcome loneliness. Existing initiatives do not cater to their needs as they do not consider insecurities of older adults yet. So, before older adults can take initiative to overcome loneliness through participation in social media and events, they must be mentally prepared. They need to feel confident and motivated. We intend to fill this gap using the ibilight.

Connect with your parents. Be present in their lives with the ibilight. They interact with the lamp, you interact through an app. - www.ibilight.de The ibilight invites a loved one into the home of the older adult. It does not intend to be a prominent piece of furniture but a subtle support-system. It can only be turned on by the loved one, representing a social presence when older adults feel loneliness: in the evening. It is a stepping stone to naturally form a deeper bond with each other, initiating more contact through other means of communication. When your parent touches the light, you receive a notification on your phone. You decide what it means, e.g. in the evening it could be „good night“ or touching it twice could mean „call me if you have time“. It does not require any words to show each other that you care.