Lu Yuan, a 15-year-old student in Hangzhou, recently made a buzz on China’s social media for his invention: a wearable device that can provide basic information for people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Calling it the “forget-me-not,” Lu initially designed the wearable device for his grandmother, who’s in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The progressive brain disorder destroys a person’s memory and thinking ability, and according to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is the most common form of dementia accounting for 50 to 75 percent of the total dementia sufferers.

Lu’s invention is meant to provide basic information to those wearing it, which can be critical for those with Alzheimer’s. The 3-D-printed kit looks like a necklace with an AI sensor on the one end and a headphone on the other end. By putting the sensor forward, it can verify people’s faces with images that has been stored and tell wearers through the earpiece whom they are talking to, along with other bits of information.

The device can sense the intensity of ultraviolet rays to tell someone whether they’re outdoors or indoors. If the wearers are outdoors for some 20 minutes or above, the device will broadcast home addresses and remind them to go back home.

From the initial drafts to the final design, Lu spent about half a month to complete his creation with the help from his teacher, Lin Ying. She told China National Radio (CNR) that she was delighted to see the product as Lu combined several techniques into practice and used the facial recognition to help solve a particular problem.

Lu sai he will continue to improve the model and file a patent for it.

Lu’s invention also got the attention of Li Xia, a medical director of Shanghai Mental Health Center, who has documented the life for Alzheimer’s patients in a news documentary.

She thought the invention could help patients with memory impairment and more importantly, it is an outstanding example of care.

Lu began learning writing computer languages when he was a grade-4 primary school student. His first work was a smart mailbox with a displayer that shows the number of letters in it. When he was in grade 6, one of his designs, a remote-controlled kitchen trash can, won a top prize in a provincial competition. His other fun gadgets include an alarmer that would send him warning signs when his parents were on their way to his room.

(CGTN)