This started with a dog named Hendrix.

She was my 14-year-old Shih Tzu, and for years she taught me something I had spent a whole career trying to put into words: that watching over someone you love is not about controlling them. It is about being present, catching the danger before it becomes harm, and letting them keep living on their own terms.

That idea became P.A.L.S., Pet Awareness for Living Safely.

P.A.L.S. is a small ceiling-mounted sensor that watches a room the way a devoted companion would. It uses non-imaging LiDAR, so it sees movement and risk without ever recording a camera image of the person. No video. No faces. Just the awareness needed to catch a fall before it happens, with the dignity and privacy every older adult deserves. The AI runs on the device itself, so a person's most private moments never leave their home.

It is real. P.A.L.S. is patent pending, the trademark is cleared, the hardware works, and there is a live demo running right now.

Why Ai4, and why now

Ai4 in Las Vegas, August 4 to 6, is one of the largest gatherings of AI leaders in the country. The people who can help bring fall-prevention technology like this to families everywhere will be in that room. I am going to put P.A.L.S. in front of them.

The conference is six weeks away. This is the window to make it happen.

Where your gift goes

We are already $625 toward the goal, thanks to people who believe in this work. Here is what the rest covers:

Conference registration: $2,000

Round-trip flight, Houston to Las Vegas: $400

Lodging, three nights: $600

Ground transport and meals: $300

P.A.L.S. demo materials and printed one-pagers: $200

Every dollar goes directly to getting P.A.L.S. into the conversations that move it forward. Anything raised beyond the goal goes straight back into the build.

The thank you

Whether you give, share, or simply send a good word, you are part of the story of the fall that never happened. I am grateful for every one of you.

With hope and gratitude,

Dr. Melissa Mansfield

Founder and CEO, The Gerontechnology Group