Smart Carpet: Developing a sensor system to detect falls and summon assistance.

Cognitive deficits experienced by older adults with dementia limit use of wearable devices (necklaces or bracelets) that summon assistance after the older adult falls. To use these wearable devices, older adults must choose to wear them, remember how to use them, and be conscious after falling. Devices such as the Smart Carpet substitute pre-programmed or automatic functions for functions requiring deliberation and decision. After development of a Smart Carpet prototype, 11 volunteers participated in tests to measure sensitivity of sensors embedded in the Smart Carpet. The embedded sensors were not perceptible to the volunteers as they walked across the Smart Carpet and successfully detected gait characteristics. Findings confirmed the feasibility of fall detection. Measurements obtained of gait characteristics will be used in development of more advanced versions of the Smart Carpet.

Signal scavenging for passive monitoring in eldercare technology.

Signal scavenging is analogous to energy scavenging: seemingly ubiquitous energy in the environs provides the signal for usage as a personnel sensor. Such energy can be used to detect motion, and most importantly falls. Stray signals can be detected in aluminum foil as voltage differences between touched foil (say by hand) compared to that untouched. Spectrum analysis shows the stray electromagnetic noise signal consists substantially of 60 Hz and its harmonics. Also the signal intensity for both touched and untouched monotonically increases with foil area. While personnel monitors find utility in many areas including security, personnel control and activity detection, we believe these putative sensors to be useful in inobtrusive monitoring of elders to provide them with increased independence at a critical time in their lives.