The smart house for older persons and persons with physical disabilities: structure, technology arrangements, and perspectives

Abstract

Abstract-Smart houses are considered a good alternative for the independent life of older persons and persons with disabilities. Numerous intelligent devices, embedded into the home environment, can provide the resident with both movement assistance and 24-h health monitoring. Modern home-installed systems tend to be not only physically versatile in functionality but also emotionally human-friendly, i.e., they may be able to perform their functions without disturbing the user and without causing him/her any pain, inconvenience, or movement restriction, instead possibly providing him/her with comfort and pleasure. Through an extensive survey, this paper analyzes the building blocks of smart houses, with particular attention paid to the health monitoring subsystem as an important component, by addressing the basic requirements of various sensors implemented from both research and clinical perspectives. The paper will then discuss some important issues of the future development of an intelligent residential space with a human-friendly health monitoring functional system. Index Terms-Health monitoring, intelligent house, smart house, wearable sensor.

Section 3: Health Information Systems: Health Information Systems: Between Shared Care and Body Area Networks

“…Home care and home monitoring are also attracting ongoing interest of the research community. In addition to the telemedical surveillance of chronically ill patients using sophisticated, un- obtrusive wearable monitoring devices as demonstrated by [13], technology driven home care concepts for the elderly and physically disabled remains an important field of research [14]. Thus HIS are subject to continuous change indicating a need for systematic and efficient tool-supported methods for change management [1].…”

“…Home care enabled or supported by technology is one concept to meet these requirements [20]. The paper of Ditimar H. Stefanov et al [14] presents a comprehensive review of current research on so called smart houses and technologies they may be equipped with. Based on a classification of smart home devices into the five groups (1) devices for automation and control of the home environment, (2) assistive devices, (3) devices for health monitoring of important vital parameters, (4) devices for information exchange, and (5) leisure devices, the authors comment in detail on research and development outcome.…”

Ambient intelligence: Technologies, applications, and opportunities

“…With the maturing of supporting technologies, at-home automated assistance can allow people with mental and physical challenges to lead independent lives in their own homes [136,146,155] and reduce the physical and emotional toll that is taken on caregivers [166]. Some of these technologies focus on assurance, or making sure our friends and loved ones are safe and healthy at home.…”

Real Estate for the Ageing Society – the Perspective of a New Market

“…In order to enable older adults to age in place, (i) persons receive support for (instrumental) activities of daily living and physical activity. Also, homes are being modified in terms of (ii) architecture and (ii) technological solutions (STEFANOV et al 2004). These interventions may, to a certain extent, facilitate ageing in place, depending on the health status of the occupants.…”