Research Article
Remote Assistance for Elderly to Find Hidden Objects in a Kitchen
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-319-49655-9_1, author={Zeeshan Asghar and Goshiro Yamamoto and Takafumi Taketomi and Christian Sandor and Hirokazu Kato and Petri Pulli}, title={Remote Assistance for Elderly to Find Hidden Objects in a Kitchen}, proceedings={eHealth 360°. International Summit on eHealth, Budapest, Hungary, June 14-16, 2016, Revised Selected Papers}, proceedings_a={EHEALTH360}, year={2017}, month={1}, keywords={Remote assistance Elderly Caregiver RFID Projection}, doi={10.1007/978-3-319-49655-9_1} }- Zeeshan Asghar
Goshiro Yamamoto
Takafumi Taketomi
Christian Sandor
Hirokazu Kato
Petri Pulli
Year: 2017
Remote Assistance for Elderly to Find Hidden Objects in a Kitchen
EHEALTH360
Springer
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-49655-9_1
Abstract
Remote assistive technologies are one of the most promising solutions for an aging society in the future. This paper describes a design of a remote assistive system to guide elderly to find and recognize hidden objects in a kitchen through ubiquitous technologies utilizing sensing and light projection. These intelligent technologies can play a vital role in taking care of the elderly with cognitive impairments when the caregiver’s lives or work far away. The main goal of this research is to provide visual guidance to elderly to overcoming the deficits of initiation, planning, attention and memory deficits while performing kitchen-based activities of daily living such as locating and identifying items for cooking. In a standard kitchen where objects can be placed in open and closed spaces, it is difficult for elderly with cognitive impairment to find and locate objects that are invisible and sometimes hidden behind other objects. In this situation the RFID technology can directly provide the location of the items and projection technology can display the image of the object at the exact location. An initial prototype has been developed and a user study with twelve elderly people has been conducted. The initial results show that the visual guidance makes the task of finding and identifying objects easier and simpler. Additionally, results show promise for further development and system can be used for other kitchen activities.