Works in Progress Editor: Anthony D. Joseph
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UC Berkeley
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[email protected]
Successful Aging EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION This issue’s Works in Progress department presents six abstracts for projects that are developing interesting solutions to the elderly’s quality-of-life challenges. The first two abstracts discuss projects that will help provide the elderly with freedom and independence by instrumenting their environments with supportive technology. The next two abstracts discuss projects building specialized user interfaces to address some of the challenges associated with aging, such as vision impairment. The final two abstracts present projects that will aid independence for the elderly by providing remote monitoring and assistance. —Anthony D. Joseph
General Electric is moving forward rapidly with technology to help families with an elderly parent living independently in his or her own home. The Home Assurance system will augment a traditional inhome panic button with a gateway module capable of transmitting additional information to family caregivers in nearreal time via a secure Web site. The system can collect data using wireless motion sensors and window or door sensors already common in many homes. If desired, these small wireless sensors can monitor specific areas, such as the refrigerator door or movement in the bathroom. Additional sensors can monitor the temperature and detect water leaks, smoke, or carbon monoxide. The system sends sensor activations offsite, where a computer-processing center translates them into useful activity summaries that family caregivers can access via the Internet. Researchers at GE’s Global Research Center have collected over 1,200 days of data from the homes of seniors, demonstrating the ability to detect activ48
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ity patterns and alert the family when a home is unusually quiet. Figure 1 shows quiet times in a home as peaks that grow higher as the home remains quiet. When days are stacked behind each other, nor-
Sleep
480 Daytime quiets 420 360 300 Minutes
HOME ASSURANCE SYSTEM Paul Cuddihy, GE Global Research
mal sleep becomes a large ridge, and daytime quiet periods are smaller freestanding peaks. The appearance of an unusual peak on this surface can prompt a call to a family member. The system’s rollout later this year holds promise that pervasive sensing and computing is finding its way into the homes of seniors. More powerful and exciting applications that can enhance independent living are truly on the horizon. For more information, contact Paul Cuddihy at
[email protected].
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Figure 1. An activity summary from General Electric’s Home Assurance system. Published by the IEEE CS and IEEE ComSoc ■ 1536-1268/04/$20.00 © 2004 IEEE
ILLUMINATION-BASED LOCATOR ASSISTS ALZHEIMER’S PATIENTS Roderick T. Hinman, Al-Thaddeus Avestruz, Elmer C. Lupton, Gary Livshin, and John I. Rodriguez, Talking Lights Steven B. Leeb, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corinne M. Clark, Kathy J. Horvath, Ladislav Volicer, E.R. Rogers VA Hospital Context-aware computing represents an important opportunity to assist the elderly, infirm, and physically challenged. However, most methods for providing location information inside buildings require extensive hardware and installation effort. Accurately gauging indoor location with a portable computing device remains a challenge. Talking Lights, in collaboration with MIT’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, is using modulated illumination as a locator means for context-aware systems. The systems use ordinary fluorescent fixtures, incandescent table lamps, and compact fluorescent lamps with standard bulbs and wiring to provide an inherent spatial sampling. An appropriate power electronic circuit can modulate illumination to encode information without perceptible visual flicker.1 Simply replacing a fluorescent lamp ballast turns the lamp into a Talking Light transmitter. The optical illumination signal is naturally at a higher power level than other dedicated transmitters (such as Bluetooth, IR beacons, or wireless LANs). The modulated illumination supplies a unique signal precisely associated with its location. A mobile computer or PDA equipped with an optical receiver then processes the signal. The resultant specific location information lets application software achieve context awareness.2 We previously reported on this technology as a prototype guiding system for traumatic brain injury patients.3 We also have used the system to address the tendency of Alzheimer’s patients to seek APRIL–JUNE 2004
exits. In preliminary trials, patients followed audio guidance and weren’t antagonized or disoriented by the disembodied voices emanating from the portable devices. We continue to research using illumination as locators for context awareness. Illumination transmitters and receivers are available from Talking Lights for other workers in the field to evaluate and use. For more information, contact Neil Lupton at
[email protected].
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS National Institute on Aging grant 1R43AG17772 supported this work.
REFERENCES 1. S.B. Leeb et al., Dual Use Electronic Transceivers for Wireless Data Networks, US patent 6,198,230, Patent and Trademark Office, 2001. 2. E.C. Lupton et al., Communication Systems, US patent 6,400,482, Patent and Trademark Office, 2002. 3. D.T. Burke et al., “Using Talking Lights to Assist Brain-Injured Patients with Daily Inpatient Therapeutic Schedule,” J. Head Injury Trauma, vol. 16, no. 3, 2001, pp. 284–291.
CONTEXT-AWARE INVISIBLE INTERFACES Bjorn Landfeldt, Judy Kay, Robert Kummerfeld, Aaron Quigley, and David West, University of Sydney Trent Apted and Gavin Sinclair, National ICT Australia Project Nightingale researchers are developing a context-aware data management system across a suite of personal computing devices with an applied focus on applications that stimulate intellectual and social fitness in the elderly. The project’s goal is to substitute the classic desktop interface with invisible and ambient interfaces that let individuals or groups engage in reminiscence-oriented group activities. Our user studies have identified a
broad range of simple technologies and physical objects currently in use that stir and support these activities. Our goal is to develop systems and applications for reminiscing that can be used as naturally as current tangible devices such as photo albums, scrapbooks, and communal table environments. We aim to realize this by incorporating technologies for memory collection, metadata specification, shared table systems, pen-paper control, voice control, and haptic and ambient feedback. To support such natural environments, we’ve developed a virtual personalserver-space architecture. This architecture supports varying network topologies but relies on each individual carrying a device ranging from a personal server to an identifier for a logical home server. The server space incorporates two planes—data and context—in support of applications. The data plane manages synchronization, caching, migration, and security as the individual personal area network moves through different network topologies. The context plane manages device characteristics, service availability, modalities, and learning. In practice, applications require these services to be offered from devices within the PAN when decoupled from the network. However, they might use services residing in the nearby computing environment as they become available. For more information, contact Aaron Quigley at
[email protected]; www.cs.usyd.edu.au/~aquigley.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT Smart Internet CRC and National ICT Australia grants supported this work.
A USER-CENTERED APPROACH TO DESIGN David J. Haniff, Roy Kalawsky, David Atkins, and Martin Lewin, Loughborough University Loughborough University is one of 40 partners involved in The Application PERVASIVE computing
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Home Initiative, funded by the US Department of Trade and Industry. One TAHI research area is how technology can support users with disabilities and the elderly. However, because the elderly tend to be more resistant to change, they’re typically late to adopt new technology. So, at Loughborough University, we are working with our Ergonomics and Safety Research Institute to produce ergonomically sound applications. Our hope is that by producing systems that are easy to use, we can better communicate to the elderly the benefits and usefulness of ubiquitous computing. One potential application could place pressure-sensitive pads next to an elderly person’s bed to indicate whether that person has left the bed. Another application could open curtains electronically. Central to our work is an adaptable, user-centered design approach—for example, an elderly person with vision impairments might need to enlarge an electronic display’s components. The usercentered approach consists of involving potential pervasive-technology users in workshops geared toward ascertaining services that the user requires. The user interface will also be evaluated using standard metrics such as questionnaires and the measurement of performance time. For more information, contact David Haniff at
[email protected].
NEXT-GENERATION TELECARE SYSTEM Steve J. Brown, BT Exact BT Exact has received funding under the UK Department of Trade and Industry’s Next Wave Technologies and Markets program to establish and manage the Care in the Community Center. The center aims to develop and demonstrate a next-generation telecare system that can monitor an elderly person’s wellbeing. The center includes partners from the universities of Bristol, Dundee, Liverpool, and Loughborough. Well-being monitoring aims to provide stakeholders in the care domain 50
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with an intuitive early-warning system to facilitate appropriate care-provider intervention. Such a system could reduce governmental care costs while increasing an individual’s quality of life. Work within the center started in February 2003 by developing an understanding of what constitutes well-being. Results indicate that well-being consists of person and context factors that affect the type of daily activities performed and also the experience gained from performing those activities. A change in an individual’s well-being will lead to a change in one or more of that individual’s daily activities. Some activities we’re currently focusing on include leaving and returning home, having visitors, preparing food, sleeping, maintaining personal appearance, and performing leisure activities. We’re currently developing sensors for monitoring these activities. To help keep cost and power requirements to the absolute minimum, where possible, the system will tap into existing sensor systems such as security alarms, smoke detectors, and, in the future, smart appliances. Within the next few months, we will begin deploying sensors in a real environment to model the activities. This will lead to developing an intelligent data-analysis system that can monitor changes in the well-being of individuals using Bayesian statistics and fuzzy logic techniques. The intent is to have a fully working demonstrator toward the end of 2004. For more information, see www. btexact.com/research/researchprojects/ currentresearch?doc=80064 or www. nextwave.org.uk/centres/care.htm.
LINKÖPING UNIVERSITY’S VIRTUAL COMPANION PROJECT Nahid Shahmehri, Johan Aberg, Dennis Maciuszek, and Ioan Chisalita, Linköping University The virtual companion project at IISLAB (the Laboratory for Intelligent Infor-
mation Systems) aims to increase elderly people’s independence and quality of life by realizing an always-available aid that assists with daily activities and considers individual needs and current context. To deal with the diversity of individual needs, we’re developing a toolkit that automatically generates personalized companions. The user, caregivers, and experts in relevant domains can make selections from the toolkit regarding activities to be supported (driving, meal planning, and so forth) and types of support (monitoring, guidance, and so forth). They also specify user characteristics (such as driving skills and food preferences) and the environment (street map, kitchen architecture, and so on), from which models for adaptivity and context-awareness are generated. Safety monitoring for driving and meal-planning guidance are two services we’re currently implementing. Accident statistics prove the importance of assisting elderly drivers, and the prevalence of malnutrition among the elderly highlights the importance of meal-planning guidance. Our approach to safety monitoring for driving is based on peer-to-peer and ad hoc network communication of safety-related information (such as road conditions) between cars on the same road, and between the car and nearby base stations along the road. Our system analyzes the information and alerts the user when necessary. Our meal-planning guidance system is based on a new approach to recommender algorithms (using decision networks) that considers the user’s preferences and context (for example, dietary restrictions, nutritional data, and available ingredients). Additionally, the toolkit allows the creation of many similar services that together will increase independence and quality of life. For more information, see www.ida. liu.se/labs/iislab or contact Johan Aberg at
[email protected]. www.computer.org/pervasive
