Database Reference
In-Depth Information
This includes another set of activities such as using a telephone, shop-
ping, housekeeping, doing laundry, transportation, handling finances etc.
These are collectively labeled Instrumental Activities of Daily Living
(IADL) and also indicate different aspects of the functional health. In
the absence of smart environments, the assessment of ADLs and IADLs
has mostly been done manually through interviews and questionnaires.
This is often a very time consuming and error prone process, and hence
there is a strong need to automate the monitoring and recognition of
these ADL-IADLs continuously via smart environments. We describe
several of these smart environments and their applications in the follow-
ing paragraphs.
Some smart homes with healthcare technology for older adults have
been developed as part of a laboratory setting. The Smart Medical
Home at University of Rochesters Center for Future Health [97] is one
such example. The five-room house has infrared sensors, computers,
biosensors, and video cameras. A large part of the research involves
interactions of the research subjects (patients) with a medication advisor
who provides advice on medication management and dietary adherence,
memory assistance, and assistance with Smart Bandage. Smart Bandage
is a program designed to decrease the burdens of chronic wound care at
home. Future applications of this laboratory environment include gait
monitoring, and observation of behavior and sleep. The Smart Medical
Home is designed for adults of all ages, but it is not meant for actual
habitation.
As described in [96], the Gator Tech Smart House at the University
of Florida-Gainesville Mobile and Pervasive Computing Laboratory [99]
is a laboratory-house created to assist older adults in maximizing inde-
pendence. The house is equipped with (a) smart cameras for motion
detection, image processing, and control of other in-home devices, (b)
smart blinds that automatically close to block sunlight when the air
conditioner is on, (c) ultrasonic location tracking transceivers that are
installed on the ceiling corners of each room to detect movement, loca-
tion, and orientation of the resident, (d) smart floor that uses pressure
sensors embedded into each tile to detect falls and reports to emergency
services, and (f) smart displays for entertainment media and informa-
tion residents can follow from room to room. The house also includes
a smart mailbox that senses and notifies the arrival of mail, a smart
front door that identifies residents, using a radio-frequency identifica-
tion tag among others, a smart bed that monitors sleeping patterns,
a smart mirror that displays important messages or reminders such as
when to take medication, and a smart bathroom that includes a toilet
paper dispenser, a flush detector, and a water temperature regulating
