Electronic photo frames that display read-outs of an elderly relative鈥檚 health and well-being are under development at a laboratory in Atlanta, Georgia. The aim is to allow older people to live more independent lives.
Old and infirm people who live alone are a worry for their children, says Elizabeth Mynatt, a researcher in the Everyday Computing Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.
Yet alternatives such as moving into a care home may leave the elderly even worse off. 鈥淒isadvantages include high cost, separation from the local community, less privacy and control of one鈥檚 daily activities, and often depression,鈥� says Mynatt. 鈥淎 growing number of ageing adults are strongly interested in maintaining an independent lifestyle.鈥�
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So Mynatt and her team have come up with a system that lets people see at a glance how an elderly relative is faring. She will present details at the in Seattle later this month.
Touch sensitive
In the Georgia Tech system, sensors rigged to doors and furniture monitor the elderly person鈥檚 activity. 鈥淎t the moment we鈥檙e using simple contact sensors to detect when cabinets, drawers and other items are in use,鈥� Mynatt says. 鈥淭hese sensors give us a rough idea of activity in the kitchen, as well as a sense of what the person is doing, like getting food from the refrigerator.鈥� The sensors are linked wirelessly to the Internet.
To display the information, Mynatt is developing a novel 鈥渄igital family portrait鈥�. It comprises a flatscreen display shaped like a picture frame with a JPEG photo of the subject in the middle. Animated icons displayed around the frame are used to highlight different facets of the subject鈥檚 activity.
Fluttering butterfly icons show how active the person is: the more they are doing, the bigger the butterflies get. Touching the screen gives more detailed information.
Thirsty work
Annelies van Bronswijk, who develops technology for older people at the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands, says other sensors could be included.
鈥淥lder people don鈥檛 get as thirsty, so they can get dehydrated without knowing it,鈥� she says. 鈥淵ou could have sensors in the toilet bowl that measure your hydration.鈥�
But she warns that only essential information should be sent out of the elderly person鈥檚 house. Otherwise a 24-hour watch will very quickly make them lose their psychological independence,鈥� she says.