Raleigh company behind new technology designed to help seniors live fuller lives

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- If you have a family member living in a senior community then you probably know how important technology has been to them during the pandemic.

Video calls alone have helped seniors fight the feeling of isolation when COVID-19 ravaged many senior communities.

Now, the CEO of a Raleigh company says those efforts to connect seniors with technology should continue to expand.

"The real issue is the failure of the technological market really to serve this population with technologies that really could help them," NC State graduate Scott Moody said. Moody is best known as the man who came up with the fingerprint ID system used on smart phones.

After retiring in Raleigh he decided to start K4Connect, a company that develops technology catered to seniors.

That technology is being used at more than 800 senior living communities across the U.S.

Tad Bowen, 82, recently got the K4Connect app when he and his wife moved to The Reserve at Mills Farm, a senior living community in Apex.

"I really like how user friendly it is. I'm not sure it can be more user friendly than it is," Bowen told ABC11, adding that K4Connect can be also be used on a tablet, a laptop or desktop computer.

It's a vital connection to what's going on in the community he noted saying, "Dinner menus, lunch menus, residents, services, events, it's all right there on my phone."

Residents can also use the app and their voice to command Amazon Alexa--opening up a world of technological possibilities.

The program can also connect to a Garmin smartwatch that monitors things like blood pressure, heart rate and exercise.

It's helpful to the senior living community's staff who can monitor residents around-the-clock to make sure they're OK.

"With the motion sensors in each apartment, we're able to see if there has been motion from our residents," said Kim Dahl the marketing director at The Reserve at Mills Farm.

She said those safety features have been one of the biggest selling points to prospective residents and their families.

It's part of what Moody says are the K4Connect goals, to make seniors' lives simpler, healthier, and happier.

"And when you do those things, when they provide real value, first order value to that older adult, then they use it," he said. "Then when they use it, you have the data necessary in many ways to help improve their lives."