Giraff wins AAL Forum’s prestigious “most promising” award, for high level of innovation and market potential

The Swedish company Giraff Technologies and the EU AAL ExCITE-project received top honors at the annual AAL Forum, being named the “most promising” innovation of the year out of nearly 100 products and projects. The three criteria for the award were innovation, potential to improve the quality of life for older adults and market potential.

- We are excited about what this award means for Giraff Technologies and Robotdalen’s initiative in Sweden to promote new businesses within Technology for Independent Life, says Erik Lundqvist, General Manager at Robotdalen. Our mission is to identify and nurture companies like Giraff Technologies.

The Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) Forum is the EU industry organization that supports and promotes technology solutions for independent life. Its stated objectives are to extend the time that elderly people can live independently in their homes, specifically through preventing social isolation, maintaining social networks, and increasing the efficiency and productivity of care resources.

Social interaction and security with Giraff

The Giraff is a mobile telepresence solution that achieves AAL goals by extending the presence of caregivers in elderly persons’ homes. It allows caregivers to virtually enter a home over the Internet and conduct a natural visit, moving freely around the home just as if they were physically present. Giraff diminishes social isolation and provides greater security at home for the elderly. ”ExCITE” is the EU AAL funded project led by Örebro University in Sweden that studies the interaction of elderly with their caregivers through the Giraff device.

- We owe our thanks for this award to our users – elderly persons and their caregivers who continue to evaluate the Giraff solution and provide us with invaluable feedback, says Stephen Von Rump, CEO of Giraff Technologies AB. And to the ExCITE researchers who help structure this feedback and enable us to evolve the Giraff from a product to a complete support service. We also owe a huge debt to Robotdalen for their continued support, helping us move from Silicon Valley in the U.S. and establish our company here in Sweden.

To download pictures of Giraff and Stephen von Rump, CEO of Giraff Technologies, please visit http://www.robotdalen.se/sv/Press/Bilder--logotyper/Projekt/Giraff/. To download pictures of Erik Lundqvist, General Manager at Robotdalen please visit http://www.robotdalen.se/sv/Press/Bilder--logotyper/Personer/D-F/.

Robotdalen is a Swedish robotics initiative with the mission to enable commercial success of new ideas and research within robotics & automation. Robotdalen is financed by VINNOVA (the Swedish Innovation Agency), the European Regional Development Fund and a number of public institutions, universities and companies in Central Sweden. Please visit www.robotdalen.se/en for further information.

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