Wiliam Beckett first became interested in the potential for technology to solve major problems when serving in an armoured regiment in Germany in the 1960s as he was commanding a troop of tanks and assorted vehicles that included bridge layers, bulldozer tanks and command and communications vehicles. On leaving the army he joined an American computer and communications company that launched a whole series of highly innovative, hi-tech products that led the field in many areas. After that firm was taken over by ICL, he joined a systems house using mini-computers that took the City by storm as it cleverly combined communications and banking products to oust IBM from many large international banks. William developed the first commercial e-mail system there and sold it to the likes of Shell and BP.

After a spell as senior manager at a large German computer company, William took an

idea for an innovative educational multimedia product to Virgin and led a team theredeveloping some of the first multimedia products on the market in the 1990s. He then started a company with an alumnus from MIT who had developed technology to make virtual tours of interesting locations. They applied this initially to a multimedia version of Cluedo filmed in a mansion with real actors, clues etc. This became one of the leading games in its field and topped the charts in France. A stream of other products followed for the military and education, and tourist tours of prime locations like the Houses of Parliament, the Taj Mahal and many others. This sadly came to an end with the launch of Google’s Streetview.

Over the past 14 years William has been developing and supplying a range of products to prevent hip fracture in the elderly. They are more effective, more comfortable to wear and more economic than anything else available.