We support elderly people by providing technological and social end-to-end solutions that enable them to live self-sufficiently and autonomously in their own home for a longer time. To this end, we use a wide range of technologies, such as telematics or sensor technology, and combine these with social and organizational concepts to create an overall solution.
Last modified:
Through smart integrated solutions consisting of software, sensor technology, and social concepts, we enable elderly people to live a self-determined life in their own home. Our solutions also respond to hard-to-detect emergency situations and accompany people in their everyday lives. The goal of our Smart Home solutions is to provide a significantly higher quality of life.
“STuDi – Smart Home Technik und Dienstleistung für ein unabhängiges Leben zu Hause” [Smart Home Technology and Services for an Independent Life at Home] is a telematics project in cooperation with the German Institute for Applied Care Research [Deutsches Institut für angewandte Pflegeforschung e.V.] to support self-sufficient living for elderly people. With the help of state-of-the-art sensor and communications technology in the home, deviations from the usual daily routine or situations of helplessness can be detected quickly and support can be provided swiftly. For medical and nursing care, in particular, it is important to realize that increasing digitalization and social interaction can be mutually supportive in this regard and not in contradiction to each other.
The project SUSI TD – “Sicherheit und Unterstützung für Senioren durch Integration von Technik und Dienstleistung” [Safety and Support for Senior Citizens through Integration of Technology and Services] makes an important contribution to autonomous living and quality of life for elderly people: Using a new sensor and communications technology, a pilot project performed jointly with the partners Fraunhofer ITWM and dip (Deutsches Institut für angewandte Pflegeforschung e.V., German Institute for Applied Care Research) in the Trier/Trier-Saarburg region tested in 16 apartments of senior citizens how physical helplessness of the residents can be detected on time in case of an emergency. A counseling service aimed at prevention supplemented the project.
The partners are working on an unobtrusive system that permanently “accompanies” elderly people in their own home or in a senior citizen home. Multi-sensor nodes mounted on the ceiling of the rooms record the resident’s movements. The data is then transmitted wirelessly to a computer. A piece of software documents the resident’s activities of daily life and thus continually learns their “normal behavior”. The evaluation program permanently compares the resident’s current actions with the created model. In this way, it detects deviating situations that might indicate that the person has suffered a fall, is lying motionless on the floor, and is in a situation of helplessness. If the elderly resident does not respond when contacted by the system, the software sends a text message to a trusted person, such as a relative or caregiver.
Fraunhofer Institute for Experimental Software Engineering IESE