IBM's 'smart floor' can detect weight, object locations, heart rate and even alert emergency services

IBM's recently granted smart floor patent comes with built-in sensors that can identify the weight, location and shape of people, animals or non-living materials. The smart floor would primarily be used as a home security system, offering an additional layer of detection to current motion sensing and surveillance building network systems. However, it also possesses medical monitoring capabilities. If an elderly person has been on the floor for an extended period of time, the smart floor could alert emergency services; heart-rate monitors can measure the pulse of living creatures. Whether the costs make the smart floor prohibitive for the average consumer remains to be seen, but hospitals and other care facilities can certainly make use of patient and elderly care monitoring.