A serendipitous café encounter in 2020 initiated a new partnership between David Beard (Disability Housing Provider) and Mark Xavier (Aerospace specialist), sparking a revolution in Assistive AI technology.

Always the innovator, Dave was motivated to improve the iSaint assistive technology in his SDA Smart Homes to improve outcomes for people with disabilities. This chance meeting with Mark, one morning in a Milton Café, changed the course of the iSaint platform. From this meeting and joining of Dave & Mark’s endeavours, Ariel Care Pty Ltd was born. The partnership leverages the AI expertise of Mark’s Aerospace’s company to further develop the SDA Smart Home iSaint platform beyond v1.0.

Ariel Care’s pilot is trialling new technologies to detect and flag a range of health and safety hazards for participants including fever detection, choking detection, respiratory issues, falls, through to sensing inappropriate contact and bed wetness. The pilot leverages the latest technologies to improve the wellbeing and safety of persons living with acquired brain injuries and disabilities that necessitate assisted living.

ABOUT THE ARIEL CARE PILOT PROGRAM

Ariel Care is excited to announce our 2024/2025 Pilot Program, designed to enhance outcomes for individuals with disabilities. We offer modern, safe, and comfortable assistive living environments equipped with the latest technologies to improve health and facilitate proper communication and comfort for our participants. Our focus is on high care participants who are finding difficulty in expressing their needs with carers. Utilizing Smart technology, Ariel responds to your actions, movements, and gestures, ensuring your safety and well-being while empowering individuals with disabilities to feel secure, engaged, and connected to their surroundings through innovative tech solutions seen nowhere else in the NDIS space.

This pilot will take place in two – high physical support SDA Smart Homes in South-East Queensland and will run for three months. This initiative aims to gather valuable insights and experiences that will inform our future national rollout, ultimately benefiting a broader community.

This pilot marks the beginning of an incredible journey and we would like to welcome all that are interested to keep an eye on this space and our socials in order to best stay up to date with the amazing work we are doing for those who need it most.

Ariel Care is a Joint Venture of SDA Smart Homes and V-Tol Aerospace, in collaboration with QUT and UQ .

David Beard
Co-Director
David Beard is a Co-Director of Ariel Care, in partnership with Mark Xavier. David is also Managing Director of SDA Smart Homes, a registered NDIS housing Provider. Over the past 25 years, David Beard’s passion and integrity has cultivated one of the largest real estate businesses in Queensland, Property Direct. In 2018, David recognised a unique opportunity to apply his skill set to deliver NDIS Specialist Disability Accommodation. This was the genesis of SDA Smart Homes, which has set a new standard in accessible accommodation for Australians living with a disability.
LinkedIn Page
Mark Xavier
Co-Director
Mark Xavier is a Co-Director of Ariel Care, in partnership with David Beard. Mark was first introduced to unmanned aircraft technology in 1990 while serving in the ADF and became Director of V-TOL Aerospace Pty Ltd incorporated in 2005. V-TOL & AUSA are Australian corporations based in Queensland, established to develop and supply Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) technology & capabilities, products and services into the emerging civilian RPAS commercial sector.
LinkedIn Page
Kye Morton
Chief Technology Officer
Kye is Chief Technology Officer for both Ariel Care and V-Tol Aerospace. Kye has attained a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) focused in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Queensland University of Technology.
LinkedIn Page
Jesse Costelloe
Product Manager
Jesse works for SDA Smart Homes and Ariel Care, leading teams in design, research, and technology to imagine and build products that improve outcomes for those living with disability and accessibility needs.
LinkedIn Page
Dhaval Vyas
Snr Lecturer Computer Science
Dhaval Vyas is a Snr Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Queensland, with the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering; Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology.
LinkedIn Page
ABOUT SDA SMART HOMES

SDA Smart Homes has 20+ years’ experience delivering new property which has allowed us to bring the Platinum Range of SDA compliant homes to the market. Offering new homes that have been uniquely designed for those who require High Physical Support seeking independent, secure and easy living. We have teamed up with experts in the disability housing and assistive technology industries to ensure a complete product offering for our SDA Smart Home clients.

For more information on SDA Smart Homes, visit https://www.sdasmarthomes.com.au/

ABOUT V-TOL AEROSPACE

V-TOL has achieved several world firsts while working with the World Bank & Hitachi Japan on International projects such as UAV4Resilience & the DFAT sponsored cyclone Gita recovery surveys on Tonga.

V-TOL & AUSA count global NGOs, ASX 200 companies, Australian Local, State and Federal Government agencies on its list of customers. V-TOL is CASA approved for RPAS flight operations & training.  AUSA is a ASQA Registered Training Organisation (RTO). AUSA has trained 500+ students (many Dual Licensed), including foreign national airspace (NAS) regulator personnel, from seven (8) different nations to the CASA approved remote pilot license (RePL) standard.

Both organizations work closely with global partners, leading Australian researchers, CASA, government and commercial customers with the aim of making this technology an economic value-adding multiplier across all ‘core’ Australian and global industries.

For more information about V-TOL Aerospace, visit https://v-tol.com/