HEFEI, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- A mobile phone alert warns a community worker that no door activity has been detected at an elderly resident's home for more than 24 hours. Another alert reports that a smoke detector has been triggered.
The notifications come from smart devices installed in the homes of over 600 elderly people living alone, mostly aged 80 or above, in Luyang District of Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province in east China. The devices, including door sensors and smoke detectors, help community workers identify potential emergencies and respond more quickly.
The smart early-warning system is part of a government-funded elderly care program launched in 2025, according to Zhao Fei, director of the Luyang district office of the committee on aging.
When an alert is triggered, a three-tier response mechanism involving family members, community workers and community officials is activated to ensure each warning receives appropriate follow-up, Zhao said.
"The combination of smart early warnings and human intervention builds a safety net for elderly people living alone at home," Zhao said.
Around a dozen alerts are generated and handled each day. "It would be nearly impossible to identify such risks through human inspections alone," Zhao said.
The initiative is part of broader efforts to harness intelligent technologies and high-tech products to improve elderly care as China faces a rapidly growing elderly population.
Official data shows that China's population aged 60 and above exceeded 323 million by the end of 2025, accounting for about 23 percent of the national total population.
In addition to smart devices such as millimeter-wave fall detectors, the Shulu Community Service Center in Hefei high-tech zone has introduced a robot to assess the mental health of elderly people, said Liu Li, head of the center's social affairs department.
Equipped with cameras and powered by large AI models, the robot analyzes facial expressions, eye features and subtle body movements, conducts noninvasive screening, and by combining these observations with physiological signals generates a report on a person's mental state.
China's rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced manufacturing are encouraging technology companies to develop products for the expanding elderly care market.
Anhui Sanlian Robot Technology Co., Ltd. has introduced its fourth-generation lower-limb exoskeleton, which uses AI to adapt the level of assistance according to users' movements.
The device can detect when users need extra support as they lift their legs and reduce assistance when they stop moving, allowing people with walking difficulties to move more naturally, said Wu Xianchun, the company's marketing director.
The company's exoskeletons were initially developed mainly for postoperative leg rehabilitation and activities such as mountain climbing. They are now used primarily in elderly care facilities, with demand increasingly shifting toward helping older people exercise their legs and improve everyday mobility, Wu said.
Advances in AI and manufacturing are helping improve the performance and affordability of elderly care products, Wu said. Better algorithms make devices smarter, while improved manufacturing processes and mass production help enhance quality and reduce the cost of components such as batteries and motors.
"Affordable, high-quality elderly care tech products will better serve senior citizens," Wu said.
Smart technologies are also gaining ground in other Chinese cities. In Beijing, intelligent massage and companion robots are being used for physical therapy and companionship. Some nursing homes in Shanghai have adopted smart mattresses to monitor residents' health, while virtual reality devices are being used for rehabilitation training among older people in Shenzhen.
China's market for elderly care service robots is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars) in 2026, according to a research report released by the China Software Testing Center this year.
The growing market is also driving more young entrepreneurs to tap opportunities in the elderly care industry.
Liu Sizhe, an 18-year-old student at the University of Science and Technology of China, launched a startup this year and led a team in developing an AI-based system for preliminary screening for Alzheimer's disease.
Users can have casual conversations with the system via a mobile phone or a tablet, while the technology analyzes their speech rate and responses to identify potential signs of cognitive impairment.
Liu said his grandparents inspired the project. Watching them grow older prompted him to consider how he could use technology to help elderly people.
"I do not want the elderly to be left behind by technological advances," Liu said. ■
