Home Occupancy Agent: Occupancy and Sleep Detection

Smart homes of the future will have a numberof different types of sensors. What types of sensors and howthey will be used depends on the behaviour needed from thesmart home. Using the sensors to automatically determine ifa home is occupied can lead to a wide range of benefits. Forexample, it could trigger a change in the thermostat setting tosave money, or even a change in security monitoring systems.Our prototype Home Occupancy Agent (HOA), which we presentin this paper, uses a rule based system that monitors powerconsumption from meters and ambient light sensor readings inorder to determine occupancy. The agent is also able to determinewhen the occupants are asleep, and thus provide the potentialfor further energy saving opportunities

On Modelling Communication in Ubiquitous Computing Systems using Algebraic Higher Order Nets

Ubiquitous computing systems (UCSs) are designed to participate almostimperceptibly in everyday life. To ensure a solid operation, a UCS heavily depends on a reliable and efficient communication between its distributed computing components. Moreover components can join and leave the system at any time.In order to guarantee high quality systems, the use of models is inevitable especiallyat an early stage of the development process where models are the only possibilityto address a system which does not yet exist in reality. Petri nets and graph transformationsystems are established, theoretically well-founded concepts for modellingand analysing complex systems.This paper presents a formal approach for modelling core aspects of the communicationin UCSs by using Algebraic Higher Order Nets with Individual Tokens andgraph transformation. The approach is suitable to cover the different aspects ofcommunication and enables the analysis of specific properties. The approach and itssuitability are illustrated based on a running example. The feasibility of embeddingthe approach in a broader context of modelling is demonstrated in applying it to areal world system: the Living Place Hamburg

Assessing the Need of Adaptive Changes for Emerging NORCs in Urban India

Due to population ageing, today’s high-rise apartments in Indian cities, which are currently mainly owned by young professionals, will turn into naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs) in near future. Though many urban housing complexes of 1970s and 1980s are already serving as NORCs, the term is comparatively new to Indian housing research. This huge existing housing stock is inadequate for special gerontological needs of the elderly, who are fragile and socially vulnerable. Informal opinion of common people revealed that holistic requirement for elderly in housing is still grossly confused with vertical transport, i.e., elevators, and little attention is paid to other architectural features. As part of an ongoing doctoral study, a detailed literature review was undertaken on the vulnerability profile of Indian urban elderly in the context of special requirements of barrier-free housing. This article aims to establish the urgent need to assess the adaptive potential of existing housing communities serving as NORCs in Indian cities, such that new housing in the future can be planned with flexible approach

Health monitoring modular panel interface design and evaluation

In this paper we present a conceptual solution of modular panel for measuring health parameters of the elderly. The conceptual solution was followed by a study that analyzed the design and evaluated interface of the system. Modular panel contains sensors, processing unit, and interface enabling data acquisition and communication between the user and the medical staff. Positioning of the panel within the residential unit was determined by the categories of actions which it should provide and functional areas of typical housing unit. Interface design is based on a specific type of users and is on the basis of the type of data that should be collected and displayed. Evaluation of interface is conducted by using two user groups, where the first is made up of people older than 60 years and represents the interest group of the study, while the second group consisted of people younger than 60 years as the control group. The collected data were analyzed and the results indicate that the simplicity of the interface suits good to the users. Elderly users need more time to conduct certain commands, but most of them understood interface completely. The limitations of the system, such as lack of information provided for the users, will be considered in the future work

Patients Are Not Simply Health IT Users or Consumers: The Case for “e Healthicant” Applications

Health IT applications today generally incorporate patients as passive users or consumers of information rather than active individuals who, in concert with their providers, are motivated and jointly responsible for their own good health. This article uses the healthcare value chain concept [Porter and Teisberg, 2006] as a framework to identify gaps in patient-centered e-health applications. While patient diversity poses challenges similar to consumer diversity for application design, consumer-centric design is limiting for patient-centered e-health because patients should not simply consume health care; they need to interact at multiple stages, alter their behaviors, and actively participate. This article raises critical research questions specific to this challenge. It defines a new term, “healthicant,” to motivate a research focus on technology-enabled applications that support individuals responsible for their own health and well-being, and who seek appropriate assistance as needed to prevent, diagnose, prepare, intervene, rehabilitate, monitor, and manage their health throughout their lifetime. The article contrasts the objectives of healthicants with both healthcare providers (for whom most health IT has been created) and more passive patients (for whom current “patient-centered” applications are evolving), in order to identify important gaps today. These include systems that support healthicant motivation, measurement, analysis, data mining, real-time personalized feedback, and multidirectional communication

In the spotlight: Bioinstrumentation

金沢大学理工研究域機械工学

Sistemas domóticos para adultos mayores con movilidad reducida

Este artículo muestra la evolución de los sistemas de automatización para el hogar; la aparición de los estándares Zigbee, KNX y el protocolo X1O. Recopila varios proyectos domóticos orientados a la asistencia del adulto mayor y explica la contribución de estos a su independencia. También se realiza una comparación de los estándares bajo diferentes parámetros y se concluye que para implementar estos proyectos es mejor la utilización de sensores y actuadores inalámbricos por no ser intrusivos. Siendo Zigbee la mejor opción por su costo, ahorro de energía, alcance, adaptabilidad, interoperabilidad y escalabilidad. En base a los casos de éxito mostrados y necesidades de los usuarios se proponen requerimientos mínimos para hogares inteligentes que brinden mayor independencia al adulto mayor

Distributed Computing and Monitoring Technologies for Older Patients

This book summarizes various approaches for the automatic detection of health threats to older patients at home living alone. The text begins by briefly describing those who would most benefit from healthcare supervision. The book then summarizes possible scenarios for monitoring an older patient at home, deriving the common functional requirements for monitoring technology. Next, the work identifies the state of the art of technological monitoring approaches that are practically applicable to geriatric patients. A survey is presented on a range of such interdisciplinary fields as smart homes, telemonitoring, ambient intelligence, ambient assisted living, gerontechnology, and aging-in-place technology. The book discusses relevant experimental studies, highlighting the application of sensor fusion, signal processing and machine learning techniques. Finally, the text discusses future challenges, offering a number of suggestions for further research directions

Smart eldercare in Singapore: Negotiating agency and apathy at the margins

Singapore Management University Lee Kong Chian Chair Professorship Fun