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Assisted Living
Assisted Living
Using technology to care for people is not new. Lanyard pendant alarms, wrist watch alarms and step sensors are all available. They allow users to contact carers in the event of an emergency. They also allow carers to infer some user activity.
Using Assisted Living
Using Assisted Living
Scenario: 72 year old man with Parkinson’s. Lives in ground floor flat. Doesn’t drive any more. Plays golf (badly).
Periods of immobility -- Calls careline/ambulance via pendant
Poor sleep patterns -- Shown on step mat records
Forgetful/Anxious e.g. taken medication? -- Calls family
Self neglect -- Family ensures he eats & drinks, washes clothes for him
Drawbacks of current assisted living technologies
Drawbacks of current assisted living technologies
Stigmatising
Clumsy
Alerts after the event
Support Independence and Wellbeing
Support Independence and Wellbeing
Most emergencies happen during carrying out Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
Safely undertaking ADLs is paramount to living independently
We need technology to automatically:
We need technology to automatically:
Detect situations in ADLs that could lead to an emergency
Provide prompts for routine daily tasks
Look at trends in person’s wellbeing (e.g. getting better or needing more help)
Need to collect more data
Need to collect more data
Possible information sources:
Images, sounds, movement
Home appliances usage
Utilities usage (gas, electricity, water)
Images of the scene:
Images of the scene:
Provide a lot of information
No interference with ADLs
Cameras are easy to retrofit
Big concern?
Big concern?
I do not want anybody to see what is going on in my house!
Computer vision and machine learning can help!
Computer vision and machine learning can help!
All image analysis is done inside the home
Only important alerts or trend data can be sent out
Technology could:
Technology could:
Identify objects and the person in each image
If they appear in the correct relationship to each other and in a correct sequence then fine, e.g. after heating soup use a cloth to take it out of the microwave
If not, then alert the user or guide them as needed or, if serious, call the carer
Ambient Assisted Living
Ambient Assisted Living
AAL opens up new ways of supporting independent living. The benefits of AAL over AL are:
To Users
To Users
places less constraints on users
assistance can be summoned on behalf of the user (e.g. when the user is not aware or not able to)
increases user self reliance and autonomy
To Carers
To Carers
gives greater confidence in knowing user's activity levels
Intelligent software reduces the burden on remote carers
Let us know what you think about Ambient Assisted Living
Let us know what you think about Ambient Assisted Living
Questionnaire if you may consider using AAL yourself
Questionnaire if you look after a family member
Questionnaire if you are a professional carer or medical practitioner
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