Teen Innovator Builds Elder Alert Device

Hyderabad: When his grandmother fell at home and could not reach anyone for help, 17-year-old Rubeel Mahmood from Hyderabad’s Old City set out to solve the problem. He created Elder Alert, a life-saving emergency device that uses artificial intelligence to help elderly, sick, and individuals with special disabilities connect with their families.

Rubeel, a diploma student in electronics and communications engineering, developed the hardware device and a supporting mobile application. Its most important feature is that it bypasses the silent mode and ensures that alerts reach your loved ones in case of emergency. It has created an ecosystem that replicates WhatsApp’s core functionality to support the device.

The idea stemmed from an incident where his grandmother was unable to contact him after a fall because his phone was on silent. When he answered he was injured in his neck and back. “I searched the internet for a product to bridge this communication gap but couldn’t find anything. So I decided to innovate and that’s how Elder Alert was created,” Rubeel told Deccan Chronicle.

The device also includes a medication reminder feature with alerts in Hindi, Telugu and English. “I realized that this problem was common. Some even lost their relatives because they could not reach them on time. When I showed the device to the faculty, one of them wanted to buy it for his mother,” he said.

Rubeel urged students to take advantage of artificial intelligence for innovation without waiting for large institutions. “Students are far behind in the technology race, they need to catch up,” he said.

Next month, he will attend the Launch X business program in the US to learn how to expand his idea and raise funds.