Data and Information Quality Issues in Ambient Assisted Living Systems

Abstract

Demographic aging, as a result of people living for longer, has put an increased burden on health and social care provision across most of the economies of the developed and developing world. In order to cope with the greater numbers of older people, together with increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, governments are looking to new ways to provide care and support to older people and their care providers. A growing trend is where health and social care providers are moving towards the use of assisted living technologies to provide care and assistance in the home. In this article, the research area of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) systems is examined and the data, information and the higher-level contextual knowledge quality issues in relation to these systems, is discussed. Lack of quality control may result in an AAL system providing assistance and support based upon incorrect data, information and knowledge inputs, and this may have a detrimental effect on the person making use of the system. We propose a model whereby contextual knowledge gained during the AAL system's reasoning cycle can be fed back to aid in further quality checking at the various architectural layers, and a realistic AAL scenario is provided to support this. Future research should be conducted in these areas, with the requirement of building quality criteria into the design and implementation of AAL systems.

Evaluating the Reliability of Ambient-Assisted Living Business Processes

“…This metric is adequate for systems operating continuously, where a single momentary failure can have a high or even critical impact. McNaull et al (2012) discuss the quality issues of each component of an AAL system. BAN devices (sensors and actuators) reliability depends on their quality and manufacturer.…”

Smart home technologies that support independent living: challenges and opportunities for the building industry – a systematic mapping study

“…Low-power wireless connection is also sensitive to metal and was considered unreliable for this precise reason for long-term usage by Merilahti et al (2009). While most research projects considered wireless applications (Ramlee et al 2012), McNaull et al (2012 preferred a stronger WiMax signal for its limited interference with environmental obstacles such as walls.…”

LDPA: a local data processing architecture in ambient assisted living communications

“…More detailed discussion can be launched when different exports are enrolled, providing more accurate analysis. The authors of [5] ensured the accuracy of collected data through the verification of a multi-layer model. Although these research papers take the accuracy of analysis into consideration, they ignore massive data transmission and the workload of the RHCP.…”