A Wireless In-Home Healthcare Monitoring System for Supporting Independent Living of Elderlies» (WiCare)

Introduction

Aging and its resultant physical and mental disorders are very serious concerns around the world. In recent years, various in-home healthcare monitoring systems have been proposed for obviating dangerous consequences of incidents threatening elderlies living at home. The drawback of existing solutions is that they are generally based on wearable monitoring devices, which may easily be forgotten to wear or ignored by the user for privacy and comfort reasons. The WiCare project proposes a groundbreaking in-home healthcare monitoring solution that does not require the involvement of the home occupants, which can live their daily life without the need to wear any kind of sensors. Another advantage of the proposed WiCare system is that it allows for user monitoring without using video capturing devices. This means that WiCare respects the user’s privacy and it will be much less intrusive compared to video surveillance techniques. The aim of this research project is to design, prototype, and test the WiCare system, which transmits radio waves from which information about the user activities will be extracted. The received signals will be processed to detect predefined threats, such as falls, irregular home-side activities, and home-leaving preparations, which is of special importance for people suffering from dementia.

 

WiCare

NFR-Project No.: 261895

The project utilizes the Agder Living Lab concept to assure a seamless transition from a novel research-level idea to a testable system prototype, in which end-user requirements are integrated. The project consortium involves a panel of mobile radio communications experts and e-health specialists at the University of Agder (UiA), national end-users, world-class academic and industry partners across the world, 3 postdocs and 1 PhD fellow. The project management team takes this opportunity to develop knowledge in cutting-edge mobile-health technologies in Norway and to coin an elegant technological healthcare solution that increases the quality of life.