Vision and Challenges for Realising the Internet of Things

C
onfidence: Innovative care system.
The main objective of this
project is the development and
integration of innovative technologies
to build a care system for the
detection of abnormal events (such as
falls) or unexpected behaviours that
may be related to a health problem in
elderly people.
The Confidence Project
Nowadays, most of the care systems in the
market are limited to detect falls. The innovation
of the system developed in the Confidence
project is that it will not only detect
falls, but also identify short and long term
unexpected behaviours that could indicate
health problems.
Confidence will be a cost effective, nonintrusive
and reliable system that will increase
the quality of life and security of the
elderly and their families and caregivers.
Features of the system
Reliable
– Low false alarm rates
Non intrusive
The system will adapt itself to the user
– Learn the user behaviour
Small and low cost changes in the user’s
home
Easy to setup and to use
– No limit to the user’s daily activity
Customized alarm protocol
Portable
– Operates both outdoors and indoors
Target Group
Elderly over 65 years
Cared or not by some kind of home assistance
provided by Public Administration
Mobility independent and with no particular
difficulty with activities of daily living
With fear of falls
At risk of social exclusion
Technical Approach
The result of this multidisciplinary research
will be a working prototype. The end-users
will be involved in the RTD activities by codefining
the specifications, monitoring and
testing the project. This early user involvement
will contribute to meet the user’s requirements
and will increase the acceptability
of the final system.
Impact
CONFIDENCE
Ubiquitous Care System to
Support Independent Living
ICT in combination with other technologies
can play a major role in prolonging the personal
autonomy and active participation in
society of elderly people. In this respect, Confidence
has the potential to enhance the independence
of elderly people.
Confidence’s goals are twofold:
There is the social advantage of a better quality
of life for elderly people who live alone
and their relatives. The elderly will prolong
their active participation in the society, and
their relatives will be less concerned.
The economic advantage has to be taken into
account. As elderly people will be able to live
longer on their own, with a higher quality of
life and not in care institutions, there will be a
cost reduction for the welfare state.
Further information:
Partners: Fraunhofer, Jozef Stefan Institute,
Ikerlan, COOSS Marche, University of
Jyväskylä, Umeå Municipality, eDevice,
CUP2000 S.p.A/Ltd, ZENON S.A.
Contact: Igone Vélez;
Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones Técnicas
de Gipuzkoa
Pº. de Manuel Lardizabal,15, 20.018, San
Sebastián (Spain)
Tel.: +34-943-212800
E-mail: coordinator@confidence-eu.org
Internet: www.confidence-eu.org
Duration: 01.02.08 – 31.01.11 - 36 Months
CERP-IoT – Cluster of European Research Projects on the Internet of Things
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