Thessai, a Bellevue, Wash., startup led by a former Microsoft HoloLens executive, is rolling out a home monitoring system for older adults that flags trouble without cameras, microphones or wearables.

Motion sensors placed around the home feed Thessai’s AI software, which learns a person’s normal patterns over time, such as when they wake up, how often they use the bathroom and how much they move around. The system then sends an alert through a mobile app when something falls outside that baseline: a long stretch of inactivity, unusual movement at night, or a front door opening at 2 a.m.

Founder and CEO Michael Nassirian started the company after his mother-in-law fell at home and was injured. She had a phone and an emergency button within reach but didn’t use them, and she told no one until the next day, when she needed an ambulance.

The family looked for a way to keep tabs on her and found only wearables and cameras, which she refused. So Nassirian bought motion sensors at Home Depot, put them around her home, and wrote software to alert his wife if her mother stopped moving.

Keeping quiet about a fall or health scare is common among older adults, Nassirian said.

“Number one, they say, ‘I’m OK.’ Number two, ‘I don’t want to bother you,’” he said. “And number three, and most important, is embarrassment. They do not want to advertise it.”

Pendants and smartwatches with fall alerts have long been the default, but they only help if people use them.

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