Help or Hal? Smart Homes & Elderly Care

Smart Homes

• A smart home (sometimes referred to as a smart house or eHome) is one that has highly advanced automatic systems for controlling lighting and temperature, multi-media equipment for monitoring and activating security apparatus (alarms and alerts) associated with windows and doors and many other functions.

Why smarthomes?

“It allows me to be lazy”

Convenience Peace of mind Control

“I like just being in control”

“I can track things when I’m not there and know

that…it’s…secure”

Smart home model architecture

Central Management Unit

Changing Demographics (US Census Dept, 2005)

Furthermore…

clinicians, nurses, and caregivers

+ older adults= in caregiver workload and burden

• This is not only true in institutions but in the home as well!

The Result

• There is an increased need for new treatment options and solutions

• Solutions need to be robust and easily scalable to meet the needs of this growing population

Research Questions

• Researchers are looking at technologies as a potential solution

– Can technology be used to blur the boundaries of place with respect to providing care?

– Can technology help support the growing needs of older adults?

– Can technology support caregivers and nurses?

The Goal

• Intelligent Assistive Technology: Using Artificial Intelligence to Support Wellness & Aging-in-Place

The Goal

• Intelligent Assistive Technology: Using Artificial Intelligence to Support Wellness & Aging-in-Place

• Wellness - The quality or state of being in good health especially as an actively sought goal

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary

Assistive Technology

• Any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially or off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities

- Cook & Hussey (2000)

Pervasive Healthcare• Recently pervasive (or ubiquitous) computing has started

integrating with healthcare

• Examples include:– Wireless, wearable, and implantable sensors– Personal medical devices– Smart home technology– Pervasive computing in care institutions– Pervasive applications for caregivers and nurses– Personal, social, cultural and ethical implications of developing and

using such technology

Limitations

• While good ideas, there have been several barriers to use, mainly:

– Often these technologies are not able to accommodate the changing needs of a user

– Many result in an increase in burden for nurses, caregivers, and family members

• Why?- Because you need to take into account context!

What is Context?

• Context can be defined as any information that can be used to characterise the situation of a person, place, or object

• Context encompasses everything in the person’s environment, including the person

Where does interactive system’s come in?

• The very general answer:Algorithms and techniques that can act like a human when performing cognitive functions (e.g. decision making)

• AI agent that is able to use context to make rational decisions

• Most relevant to our research are intelligent sensing and planning techniques

Sensing and Planning

• Intelligent sensing:Allows contextually rich information to be collected about the person a rational manner (develop task, user, and system models)

• Intelligent planning: Allows a system to decide what the person is doing and how to react in an appropriate manner (e.g. providing assistance at the appropriate time)

Research Goal

• To develop intelligent technology that is able to:

– Automatically learn about the user and environment

– Continuously collect data and information– Use contextual information to autonomously

operate and make decisions

Example: The COACH

• Cognitive Orthosis for Assisting with aCtivities in the Home

• Interactive system to prompt adults with Alzheimer’s disease to complete simple tasks, such as washing their hands or brushing their teeth.

Boger, J., Hoey, J., Poupart, P., Boutilier, C., Fernie, G., & Mihailidis, A. (2006). A planning system based on Markov decision processes to guide people with dementia through activities of daily living. IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine,, 10(2), 323-333.

Example: The COACH• The COACH’s hardware consists

of a small webcam and an LCD screen installed on the wall.

• If the COACH sees that a person is struggling to wash her hands properly, for example, leaving out steps or becoming confused, the COACH either prompts the person verbally, using a recorded human voice, or shows a picture of what she needs to do next.

Example: The COACH

References

• Boger, J., Hoey, J., Poupart, P., Boutilier, C., Fernie, G., & Mihailidis, A. (2006). A planning system based on Markov decision processes to guide people with dementia through activities of daily living. IEEE Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine,, 10(2), 323-333.