“Relevant Technologies –Things that we know about”

Kevin DoughtyCo-Director, Centre for Usable Home Technologies

University of York and Newcastle University

Alliance Hub, Venlaw Building, Bath Street, GlasgowFriday, 8th March, 2013

Imagining the Future - enabling technologyFeedback and Presentation Event

The List of Technologies Considered • Personal computing

devices• Information generation and

storage• The internet of things• Social networks• Communication

technologies• Entertainment (TV, radio,

infotainment)• Money – physical cash or

stuff on a card• Biometrics

• Healthcare devices• Health information• Artificial Sensing and

Enhancement Devices• Domestic appliances• Personal and home security• Personal safety• Transport & transfers• Stratification and analytical

techniques• Batteries and power• Houses and cities

Personal Computing Devices

© KD 2013

Health Informatics & Information Storage

• NHS data explosion is happening as governments make patient data available to clinicians and patients

• There needs to be secure, individual, segregated access for each group.

• Community care puts patient at centre of care - ICT services must handle remote solutions flexibly

• All roads point to loud storage solutions © KD 2013

The Internet of Things

Social Networks

Telecommunications & Internet

• Dial-up• ADSL• Cable• Fibre• GPRS• 2G• 3G• 4G 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Average mo-bile internet speed (Mbit/s)

Average home download speed (Mbit/s)

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Entertainment

The Future of Cash & Purchase• Cash is expensive for many

reasons:– Security– Accidental loss– Time needed to find change– Easy to counterfeit coins– Limited life (notes)– Lossy mechanism for currency

exchange

• % of transactions involving cash have reduced to ~ 20%

• Cheques have all but disappeared

• Virtual transactions are now possible using cards or NFC

Biometrics• Identifying the uniqueness of the

individual is needed for many applications:– Entitlement to benefits– Border security– Linking to health/social work records– Data and financial security

• Fingerprints are no longer considered to be good enough

• Retinal scans are being used increasingly

• Analysis of facial expressions, gestures and gait are also now relevant

Healthcare Devices

Point of Care Testing• Other medically relevant parameters can be measured and

interfaced with telecare/health devices for remote collection• Blood, urine and saliva can be used to determine levels of

cholesterol, glucose, lactate, coagulation, blood count, white cell concentration etc.

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Preparing for Chemotherapy• White blood cells levels are reduced by chemotherapy, leaving the body’s

immune system weakened• Subsequent cycles cannot be delivered until the neutrophil count is

restored• If levels are measured daily at home, the dose can be optimised and delays

in treatment avoided

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Health Information

FULL-SCREEN PICTURE

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Improved Clinical Process Evidence

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

HbA1c

Blood pressure

Cholesterol

UrinaryMicroalbumin

Data recoded within the previous 15 months

Source: Scottish Diabetes Survey

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Artificial Sensing & Enhancements

Domestic Appliances

Personal & Property Security

Personal Safety• Fire prevention – alarms and water mist• Falls prevention and detection• Going out and become lost

Electronic Exit Tagging

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• Available to buy in the UK through Caretrak.

• The basic mobile locator kit costs £500 but more sophisticated versions are also available.

Non-GPS Location Technologies• As used by Project Lifesaver • Offers much longer battery life than

GPS devices• But “tag” needs to be worn or carried• Technology is actually pretty old

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GPS Devices to Find People•For people who carry a phone •For people who wear a watch

For people who carry a key-ring or hand-bag

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Transport and Transfers

Amplifying the Body’s Muscles

Rex is a robotic exoskeleton pair of legs for wheelchair users enabling them to stand up and walk using a joystick and control pad

• The ReWalk exoskeleton is for people paralyzed in the legs.

• It provides power & walking motion, but balance has to be maintained by using forearm crutches.

• A harness around the waist and shoulders keeps the suit in place, and a backpack holds the computer and rechargeable 3 1/2-hour battery.

© KD 2011© KD 2013

• Claire Lomas, a paraplegic woman from Leicestershire in the UK, is making medical history as the world’s first person to use an exoskeleton for daily living around her home.

• She proved the capability of the ReWalk system from ARGO Medical by using it to walk a complete marathon and then lighting the Paralympic cauldron in Trafalgar Square.

• Until now, the ReWalk was exclusively used in rehabilitation clinics with a therapist spotting the patient and providing constant step-by-step guidance. 

• Now Claire is able to use the device independently, even walking up and down stairs and around town. 

Rehabilitation Potential

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Stratification & Big Data Analytics

Worn Activity Monitors

• PAMSys is a sensor that can be integrated into clothing and has an extended battery life of more than 200 hours, that can detect posture, gait, the number of times the person rises, sits, steps taken and correlation between speed of getting up and time to get up

• These readings will help caregivers evaluate whether an alert was for a real fall and help them avoid false alarms and measure the acceleration when some one gets up.

• Similar products from Fitbit, Misfit and Amiigo are aimed at the same market© KD 2013

Monitoring Nutritional Input

• The Bite Counter is worn like a watch and tracks how many mouthfuls the wearer takes to sound an alarm when they reach for one handful of chips too many.

• Once activated, the Bite Counter works by tracking the wrist roll motion that people use when picking something up and putting it into their mouths.

• The device automatically counts how many times this is done until the wearer finishes eating and turns the device off. © KD 2013

Tracking Sleep

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Data Fusion – Dashboard Approach

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Medicines Management Dashboards

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Power and Portable Supplies

Smart Houses and Cities

Technologies for a Smart Kitchen• Accelerometers:

– Customised integrated platform– Wireless & logging versions– Complete custom kitchenware set – >20 pieces: including pots & pans

• Fiber optic-based surface sensor:– FiberBoard technology– Low-resolution camera– context aware chopping board– Track class and preparation of fresh

food

• RFID:– Location track packaged food– Find lost items

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Portable & deployable ambient kitchen equipment

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Activity Recognition

Direct – using a single specific sensor

Continuous – using machine learning and a sliding window procedure

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Other Relevant Technologies?• Robotic devices?

Electronic Pets & Carers

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New Robotic Helpers

The KIRO-M5, a compact transportation robot that can carry supplies, sterilize and deodorize the air, and alert nurses when the elderly patients need their diapers changed.

Japanese Ladybird toilet cleaning robot for public restrooms

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• Toyota has unveiled a new robot that was designed to help bed ridden patients do basic tasks around the house. 

• The Human Support Robot can pick up things from shelves or off the floor and bring them to the patient. 

• It can open and close curtains and can be programmed to perform other simple tasks. 

• An interesting part of the robot is the interface, which works either through voice commands or by the user controlling it through a tablet. 

• A tablet slot on the robot’s head allows it to function as a telepresence device, allowing informal carers to communicate with the robot’s owner over Skype or other services

• It might still look too big and clunky, but it can perform the most important job for a patient stuck in bed at home, which is to bring over the TV remote.

Toyota’s Human Support Robot

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Baxter - the Industrial Home Robot

• Rethink Robotics sells Baxter, an industrial robot for $22,000• By introducing a new software development kit, the robot can be

adapted for new markets including the care of older people• Baxter has the strength and dexterity to perform many food preparation

tasks and also to take the weight of an older person as they transfer from a chair or a bed

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• Cakmak, a researcher from Georgia Tech, spent the summer creating a user-friendly system that teaches a robot simple tasks.

• It doesn't require any traditional programming skills whatsoever – it works by physically guiding the robot's arms while giving it verbal commands.

• After inviting regular people to give it a try, she found that with few instructions they were able to teach the PR2 how to retrieve medicine from a cabinet and to fold a t-shirt or a towel.

• Such tasks may be easy for us, but for a robot they are very difficult

Program Your Own Application

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Towel-folding robot

State of the Art Robotics

Cody – personal cleaning robot

Careobot© KD 2013

Other Relevant Technologies?• Robotic devices?• Any others?