Voice Assistant Application for Avoiding Sedentarism in Elderly People Based on IoT Technologies

Abstract

The rise in the use of virtual assistants such as Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa among different sectors of society is facilitating access to information and services that were previously inconceivable due to the existing digital divide due to age. This situation allows especially the elderly to perform tasks much more easily and to access applications and services that could be a challenge for them with other digital user interfaces. With this in mind, the EMERITI project aims to improve the lives of the elderly through the use of virtual assistants in different case studies. In this sense, virtual voice assistants along with the use of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies can contribute to avoid sedentarism in the elderly; however, it is necessary to address the problem of proactivity presented by the virtual assistants available in the market. This article presents a solution that, through the use of activity monitoring smart bracelets, IoT devices and virtual voice assistants allow the elderly to monitor their daily physical activity simply by using their voice and therefore prevent them from sedentary patterns. Finally, this study presents the technical results obtained after the deployment of the proposed system and discusses the main advantages and the current challenges of the use of virtual assistants in applications to prevent sedentary lifestyles in the elderly.

The future of care and healthcare provision to communitydwelling disa-bled elderly people in an ageing society

“…This can be evaluated and supervised remotely, without the need for scarce medical staff to be constantly present with the patient, and without the requirement for the patient to be transported back and forth, which is expensive and may be difficult to organize [41]. commercial voice assistants, such as Apple Siri, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa can be in used connection with integrated IoT-based systems that monitor physical activity to actively prevent sedentary lifestyles [42] and overweight or obesity [14] in the elderly, sometimes by using the gamification of physical exercise [43].…”

Understanding the Assistive Potential of Consumer Technologies: A Case Example of Smartphones, Smart Speakers, and Internet of Things Technologies

“…Similarly, harnessing smart speakers' auditory and conversational feedback may have potential in supporting older people in home environments particularly those experiencing declining cognitive functions [37]. Further applications exploiting the functions of smart speakers for older people include supporting management of type II diabetes [38] and in avoiding the effects of sedentarism through active monitoring and prompting for regular physical activity [39]. Research focused on the assistive features and functionality of such devices appears to be increasing and offers manufacturers a potential roadmap for further expansion of their consumer reach among people with a disability and older people.…”

Edge Container for Speech Recognition

“…Many recent implementations of voice control are focused on functionality, which can be offered by the proposed architectures, but they are not focused on specific topics, such as the processing of data near its source, data privacy, easy deployment and management of the solution. In a scientific article [11], authors use a conversation agent in the cloud, so every voice record must be sent remotely to a third-party provider. Furthermore, they are not dealing with the deployment question.…”