Sensor Equipped Environments Could Help Care for Dependent People

An intelligent room with an electronic detection system helps locate dependent people in their own environment, so that their safety can be guaranteed.

Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR; Spain) and Telefónica I+D (Madrid, Spain) are developing the location technologies in environmental intelligence applications for dependant people (TELIAMADE) project, the first phase of which involves a model room designed with an electronic surveillance system that works by means of several fixed reference sensors (placed on the ceiling), a sensor-receiver that moves freely, and a computing system suitable to receive and process all the information. The system offers many possibilities, such as the option to automatically open doors when the receiver gets closer to them, or braking a wheelchair when the patient sitting in it approaches dangerous areas such as staircases. The new system could also be very useful for remote care social services, since all the information on the movements and activity of the patients in the homes the system receives could be monitored and controlled from a central location.

"The prototype has produced excellent results regarding the effectiveness to recognize the moving object, and we are now working to optimize the design of the different devices and improve the variables it can control," said project leader Prof. José Carlos Segura Luna, Ph.D., of the department of signal theory, computer networks, and communications at UGR. "The equipment developed is more accurate, cheaper and is much less affected by the noise compared to the reference location system."

The system is expected to be expanded by increasing the range and type of spaces where it can operate by complementing other communication methods, such as ZigBee language (a technology similar to Bluetooth) or global positioning system (GPS), which will allow installing the technology in larger buildings with many rooms, and eventually in open spaces. Thus, by combining several different location techniques, the system will eventually integrate all available information into a cohesive whole.

Related Links:
University of Granada
Telefónica I+D