¨We are using artificialintelligence so people can remain in their homes for as long as possible¨
Lead scientist Alex Mihailidis
Several years have passed by since the moment smart homes started to be created for people with Alzheimer´s disease or other cognitive impairments. Due to the amount of time people with Alzheimer require from their caregivers, they move in to institutions were 24 hour service is provided to them by professionals. In the case of the majority of patients, they would prefer to stay home during a longer period, however, this results impossible in many families were none of the members is available all day, every day, to take care of them.
Due to this reality, artificial intelligence was used to create smart homes, allowing people with Alzheimer and other cognitive impairments to live longer in their house and at the same time providing them a solution that would help them live a more independent life.
Picture: www.huffingtonpost.com
In order to capture specific activities and movements happening inside the house, these smart homes include technological devices (sensors). These sensors, for example, can be cameras in the ceiling of the house which are linked to computers and are able to detect whether a person has fallen down. Additionally, prompts are also used in order to assist them with any necessity when needed and give them ¨hints¨ in order to accomplish a task. There are various types of prompts used: auditory, pictorial, video and light. Auditory prompts can be divided in three categories: verbal (instructions), sound (alerts) or music. Pictorial prompts can be either photographic (pictures) or textual (keywords). Video prompts are pictorial or modelling (someone performing what should be done). For instance, bathrooms include a computer screen with a video showing them how to wash their hands. Finally, the light prompts are changes of different colors of a light bulb or laser pen to reflect an action. It order for these prompts to be effective it is essential to take into account that each patient is very different: different prompts work to different people.
Smart homes give a sense of hope not only for people with Alzheimer disease, but to their caregivers as well, since they feel these technologies will allow them to remain with their loved ones for a longer period of time at home, rather than sending them to an institution.
In the future which other diseases will artificial intelligence be able to cure?
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