cogvis
cogvis is an AI monitoring system for care homes and hospitals. A 3D infrared sensor detects falls, bed exits and absences in real time without any camera, analysing depth data on the device rather than in the cloud.
What is cogvis?
cogvis is a 24/7 monitoring system for mobility and safety in nursing homes, hospitals and assisted living facilities. The contractual documents name the system cogvisAI, and it is sold as one solution made of two named parts: the cogvis companion, a 3D infrared sensor installed in the room, and a modular software platform, presented in English as the cogvis platform and in German as companion connect.
The defining choice is technical and ethical at once: the sensor captures no images. It records depth data only, and the artificial intelligence that interprets movement runs on the device itself. Nothing leaves the sensor, or the room, unless an event actually triggers an alarm; only then is a visualisation of that event created and made available on the platform. The publisher argues that this removes the usual trade-off between surveillance and dignity, and the system cannot distinguish between residents, nursing staff, technicians or visitors.
Around that core the product adds practical hardware: a patented docking station concept so a sensor can be moved between rooms, a self-adjusting sensor, an integrated night light, a presence button that pauses monitoring during care, an integrated SIM card for connectivity, and ventilation. On the software side, each sensor is configured per room and per resident, with risk profiles and alarm windows, an overview of all active rooms, and analyses of events by day, week and month that support care planning, shift handover and care-level assessment. A mobile application delivers alerts on the move, and an API connects the system to an existing care documentation platform.
Functionality is grouped into three named packages — reactive safety, Proactive safety and predictive safety — recommended respectively for assisted living, long-term care homes, and hospitals.
The company behind it began as a research project at the Vienna University of Technology. A first prototype was developed in 2017, a second sensor generation launched in 2023, and the publisher now reports use in more than 260 institutions, with falls reduced by up to 77 per cent.
What it does
- Detect falls in real time and raise an alarm to the nursing team
- Prevent falls by flagging risky movement before it happens, with virtual bed and room beams
- Reconstruct and analyse what happened after an event, using depth data
- Detect absences and prolonged inactivity in bed
- Support early detection of dementia and restlessness
- Support pressure ulcer prevention and care intensity assessment
- Feed fall-related events automatically into care documentation through an API
When to use cogvis / When not to
A quick filter to help you decide if cogvis is the right fit.
When to use cogvis
- Nursing homes and long-term care facilities looking to cut falls and night-time routine checks
- Hospitals and rehabilitation clinics managing patients with a high fall risk
- Assisted living operators that need discreet monitoring without filming residents
- Directors of nursing and quality managers who must evidence care quality over time
- Care organisations bound by strict European data protection expectations
When not to use cogvis
- Individuals or families looking for a consumer telecare device for a private home
- Buyers who need a published price list, since every quotation follows a sales conversation
- Teams wanting to trial software instantly, as no self-service demo or free trial exists
- Sites unable to install hardware, because a sensor and docking station are needed per room
- Organisations requiring a certified information security standard such as ISO 27001 or SOC 2
How to use cogvis
A typical end-to-end flow, from setup to results.
- Request an initial consultation through the contact form, as there is no online sign-up
- Discuss which of the three packages fits the facility, from reactive to predictive safety
- Receive a personal quotation, since no price list is published
- Have the 3D sensor and its docking station installed in each room to be covered
- Connect the system to the existing nurse call infrastructure
- Optionally connect the care documentation platform through the API
- Configure each sensor per room and per resident, setting risk profiles and alarm windows
- Use the presence button to pause a sensor while care is being given
- Monitor alarms and event visualisations on the platform, or on the mobile app when away
- Review the dashboard analyses over time and attend a webinar to get the most from them
Pros & Cons
Pros
- No cameras at any point: only depth data is captured, which eases acceptance by residents and staff
- Processing happens on the device, and nothing leaves the room unless an alarm is triggered
- The publisher reports substantial measured effects, including up to 77 per cent fewer falls
- Integrates with existing nurse call systems and care documentation through an API
- The docking station concept lets a sensor follow the residents who need it most
- Named reference customers in hospitals and care homes across several countries
- A dedicated GDPR document covers the product itself, not merely the marketing website
Cons
- No public pricing at all: the pricing page does not exist and every figure comes by quotation
- No self-service demo and no free trial are offered anywhere on the site
- Hardware must be installed room by room, which makes rollout a logistical project
- No information security certification is claimed, neither ISO 27001 nor SOC 2
- No data processing agreement is published, and no subprocessor list is disclosed
- The website privacy statements cover only the marketing site, not the care platform
- The English section is noticeably shorter than the German one, and one of its footer links is dead
Pricing & Plans
cogvis publishes no prices. There is no pricing page on the site, and no free plan or free trial is mentioned anywhere. The three packages are presented by function only, and each call to action leads to a request for a personal quotation after an initial consultation. The terms of business confirm this arrangement: the applicable billing and price scales are those listed on the management platform, not on the website. They add that all prices are net amounts in euros excluding statutory VAT, that prices are index-linked to the CPI 2015 and adjusted annually on 1 January, and that title to the hardware is retained until the purchase price is paid in full.
- fall detection
- fall analysis
- absence detection
- adds fall prevention
- virtual bed beam
- virtual room beam
- sit-to-stand detection and integrated night light
- adds restlessness
- bed inactivity
- pressure ulcer prevention
- early detection of dementia
- care intensity indicator and a quality reporting add-on
- No price is published for any of the three packages
Data, GDPR & hosting
A consolidated view of how cogvis handles your data.
GDPR overview
GDPR compliance is claimed explicitly and in writing. A dedicated one-page document states that the system works across the EU to the highest data protection standards and meets GDPR requirements, and the homepage repeats the claim. Concrete elements are given: a named data protection officer (Dr Martin Kampel), the competent supervisory authority (the Austrian data protection authority), and the full list of data subject rights, including access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection. The publisher notes that a signed resident consent form is not mandatory though recommended, that a data protection impact assessment is the facility's decision with cogvis assisting, and that Privacy by Design opinions are supplied on request. Note that the website privacy statements themselves cover only the marketing site.
Who owns the data?
The publisher draws a clear line between itself and its customers. In its GDPR document cogvis states that, on its own side, the processing involves no link to an identified person; that link is created only by the care facility when it assigns a room number to a sensor. The institution therefore remains the party that turns sensor output into resident-related information, and the party that decides how alarms are handled. The terms of business confirm that data sets held on cogvis servers belong to the customer: the customer must download them before the contract ends, after which they are irreversibly deleted. A data protection officer, Dr Martin Kampel, is named for enquiries.
Reuse rights
Customers keep practical control of what the system produces. Recorded events feed the facility's own care planning, shift handovers, care-level assessments and quality reporting, and can be pushed into an existing care documentation platform through an API, which means the material can be reused inside the organisation without a further request to the publisher. What leaves the room is deliberately narrow. All processing and storage happen inside the 3D sensor, and nothing exits the sensor or the room unless an event triggers an alarm; only the alarm visualisation is then placed on a server for review. The analysis works on depth maps, not images. The terms of business allow cogvis to use selected subcontractors, but none is named, and the site publishes no statement about training AI models on customer data.
Data retention & training
Hosting summary
Hosting follows the product's on-device architecture. The publisher states that the system processes and stores data exclusively inside the 3D sensor, so that nothing leaves the sensor, or the room, except when an event triggers an alarm. Only in that case is an alarm visualisation created and placed on a server for review on the management platform. That server is described as being located in the greater Frankfurt area, in Germany, which the publisher presents as meeting the location requirements of the applicable European rules. The system is described as operating EU-wide to the highest data protection standards. Jurisdiction is Austrian: the publisher is established in Vienna and names the Austrian data protection authority as the competent supervisory body. No hosting provider is named anywhere on the site, and no other country or region is mentioned.
Things to keep in mind
Risks and trade-offs to weigh before adopting cogvis.
- Alarm handling defines the legal nature of the system: the publisher notes that supporting a resident who gets up is not a restriction of liberty, but preventing them from getting up is, and each case must be assessed by the facility
- Automated monitoring can erode routine human presence, replacing checks that also served as contact rather than only as surveillance
- Staff may perceive the sensors as indirect supervision even though the publisher states individuals cannot be distinguished
- Personal data status depends on the facility: cogvis reports no personal link on its side, so responsibility for that link, and for resident information, sits with the customer
- No data processing agreement or subprocessor list is published, which leaves part of the contractual chain undocumented
- The English pages are less maintained than the German ones, and one social link in the English footer is dead, so verify details against the German source
- Reported effectiveness figures come from the publisher, and the site itself is inconsistent on one of them, quoting both 72 and 77 per cent for fall reduction
Setup & Integrations
Technical difficulty
Technically light, logistically real. The publisher describes the solution as plug and play, integrating into existing infrastructure and ready for use in minutes, with a self-adjusting sensor and a docking station that allows a unit to be moved between rooms. The demanding parts are organisational rather than technical: hardware has to be installed in every room to be covered, the system must be connected to the existing nurse call infrastructure, and the optional link to a care documentation platform goes through an API. Configuration is then done per room and per resident.
Deployment
Apps stores
Integrations
Supported languages
Behind cogvis
Social
Resources
All the official URLs gathered for verification and reference.
Frequently asked questions
Does cogvis use cameras in residents' rooms?
Where is the data processed and stored?
Can the system be used to monitor nursing staff?
Is a signed consent from the resident required?
How much does cogvis cost?
Is there a mobile application?
What can cogvis connect to?
Which languages are available?
Who publishes cogvis?
Does cogvis hold a security certification such as ISO 27001?
Should you pick cogvis?
cogvis is a mature, narrowly focused product rather than a general-purpose AI tool. The company was registered in Vienna in 2007, grew out of research at the Vienna University of Technology, shipped a first prototype in 2017 and a second sensor generation in 2023, and now reports deployment in more than 260 institutions across several European countries.
Its strongest argument is the one it repeats most consistently: there is no camera. Depth data is analysed on the device, and nothing leaves the room unless an alarm is raised. For care settings, where monitoring and dignity are permanently in tension, that design choice is more than marketing, and the publisher backs it with a dedicated GDPR document describing the product itself rather than the website.
The gaps are documentary rather than functional. No price is published, no self-service demo or free trial exists, and every path leads to a sales conversation, which makes independent evaluation difficult. No information security certification is claimed, no data processing agreement is published, and no subprocessor list is disclosed, all of which a hospital procurement team will ask for. The website privacy statements cover only the marketing site, so the product-level commitments rest on a single one-page document.
Prospective buyers should also note that this is a hardware deployment: a sensor and docking station per room, integration with the nurse call system, and a rollout that is a logistical project rather than a software subscription. Read as what it is, an institutional safety system with an unusually explicit privacy architecture, cogvis is a credible option worth a direct conversation, provided the missing contractual documents are requested early.
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