Smart and real-time door lock system for an elderly user based on face recognition

Many sophisticated smart door lock systems have been made. Still, most of them required the user to use an additional device such as a smartphone, tag, smartcard, or accessing some user interfaces, which is complicated to use for inexperienced elderly. This condition creates a gap between the elderly and technology which makes it difficult for the elderly to accept and use the technology. In this paper, we proposed a smart and real-time door lock system for an elderly user based on local binary pattern histogram as a face recognition algorithm with modular system architecture design. The novelty in our proposed system design, it does not require any additional device, it does not use any user interface, and the least user participation by automating the processes. All the user needs to do just walk toward the door and stand in front of it and the door will automatically unlock and locked back after the user enters the house and close the door. The system resulted in an accuracy of 98%, with an average processing time is 1.449 seconds for the entire process. Additional advantages, the system is designed with a modular approach that makes it flexible and scalable for further development.

Elderly user preference analysis for the use of telehealth solutions (Preprint)

BACKGROUND COVID-19 has rendered the elderly as the vulnerable group with higher death rates in the 50+ age group. In the stereotype, the elderly user group do not have the willingness nor the skills in need to adapt to the fast technology progress. Wide use of AI in health monitoring and health management such as the use of smart phone for online consultation, or the use of wearables to monitor key bio-metrics suggests the transformation to a prevention-based healthcare model and homecare. Telehealth solution usage has been accelerated during COVID. Yet the trust of elderly users with telehealth solutions are thin with many prefer face difficulties in reality to access and use such tools. The preference for telehealth solutions among elderly users remain unexplored as companies usually see it as the niche market where users are not active. Past literatures also mostly examine specific sub-population such as students, patients, current and potential users while none specifically explores the preference of the elderly. OBJECTIVE To explore elderly (>=50 years old) user’s preference for smart health solutions in China. The goal is to analyze why users choose telehealth solutions over traditional health solutions based on a model consisting of the benefits (raise health awareness) and risks of using smart health solutions, demographic factors and social influence. METHODS Past literatures on preference on telehealth solutions was checked carefully. The theoretical is built on technology acceptance model, the dual-factor model and health belief model. The questionnaire consists of 31 questions and was distributed offline on pad. The questionnaires were collected from Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Wuhan and Yichang randomly with 390 effective data samples. Subsequently, Stata 16.0 and SPSS 23.0 and was used to analyze data. O-logit rrdered regression and principle component analysis was the main theoretical model used. Data visualization was also used to illustrate factors in a qualitative manner. RESULTS A logit ranking regression model is used to analyze elderly user preference over telehealth solutions. There are three factors related the preference for telehealth solutions, namely the perceived value, the perceived benefits in self-care and health management and perceived risk in trust over data accuracy embedded in telehealth solutions. The model can predict 80% of all preference for telehealth solutions among 390 survey participants. CONCLUSIONS Perceived value of telehealth solutions do not have a statistically important effect on the elderly user's preference for telehealth solutions. Perceived benefits of telehealth solutions in self-care and health management have a positive impact while the perceived risk in trust over data accuracy over data collected from telehealth solutions have a negative impact on the preference for telehealth solutions among elderly user group.

What is discussed about eldercare?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate eldercare issues in China through exploring what was discussed about eldercare in a Chinese online community for older adults (OCOA). Design/methodology/approach Netnography was used to explore eldercare-related online discussion in a Chinese OCOA – LaoYouBang. After a two-month-long online observation, 275 microblogs and 594 comments were collected and analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. Findings The main findings include as follows: the users involved in an online discussion about eldercare were consist of four categories, namely, elderly user, non-elderly user, advertiser and community administrator. Non-elderly user include the elderly’s caregivers and families, young and middle-aged people concerning about eldercare. From 2012 to 2017, eldercare issues gradually became refined and differentiated in China and elderly users’ contribution proportion and activeness increased yearly. According to the results of thematic analysis, users’ information needs for eldercare included opinion, news, practice, emotion, knowledge and others. In China, some changes have taken place in the public’s conceptions of eldercare, embodied in the changes in the public’s attention, attitudes and cognition. Changes in user structure and communication patterns in OCOA have also been noted. OCOA plays an important role in eldercare information dissemination and social support exchange and helps to meet the eldercare challenges. Originality/value This study explored an online community for older adults. This is the first netnography study in the information field on Chinese OCOA. This paper provides new perspectives to explore eldercare issues and OCOA in other regions and cultures and it also provides some suggestions to improve OCOA.

SimpleTech: Simplifying Technology for the Elderly

SimpleTech is an android application that includes a simplified version of the calling feature on a smartphone. In this way, this application is able to simplify the smartphone for an elderly user with mental or physical disabilities who would, otherwise, have difficulty navigating the interface of a smartphone. This application was developed using AndroidStudio, and the first version was developed in a four-month timespan. This version includes four large and distinctly coloured buttons. When these buttons are pressed, the app calls the user’s most frequent contacts, with one button allocated for contacting emergency services. By setting itself apart from its competitors, SimpleTech will be able to take over this relatively new market and ensure success in both the present and future. Additionally, technology is an ever-growing industry, which means that there will be a constant need for applications like SimpleTech. Currently, the reaction to SimpleTech (version 1) has been overwhelmingly positive and the results of the test cases have been successful as well. Future versions of SimpleTech that include an improved user interface and new features will be the focus of future research. SimpleTech est une application pour Android qui inclut toutes les fonctionnalités essentielles d’un téléphone intelligent qu’une personne aîné voudrait utiliser. De cette façon, cette application rend le téléphone intelligent facile à utiliser pour un propriétaire âgé qui aurait autrement de la difficulté à naviguer son interface complexe, qui contient de nombreuses icônes et couleurs. Étant une application qui satisfait les besoins d’un grand nombre d’aînés qui pourraient avoir des invalidités, SimpleTech peut les aider à surmonter l’obstacle énorme de naviguer l’interface d’un téléphone intelligent, et leur permettre d’utiliser sa technologie puissante de manière simple et claire. En se distinguant de ses compétiteurs, SimpleTech sera capable de dominer ce marché relativement nouveau et d’assurer son succès dans un avenir proche. De plus, la technologie est une industrie qui est toujours croissante, ce qui signifie qu’il y aura un besoin constant pour les applications comme SimpleTech. Jusqu’à présent, la réaction à SimpleTech (version 1) a été majoritairement positive et les résultats des tests sont réussis. Les versions futures de SimpleTech comprendront une interface améliorée et de nouvelles fonctionnalités, qui seront le sujet des recherches dans l’avenir.