UbiCuts : wearable communication and surveillance aids for older adults and the disabled

Purpose: Population ageing is widespread across the whole globe. However, current devices that facilitate social communication are not easily accessible to older adults. Our on-going project aims to provide wearable communication and surveillance aids for older adults and the disabled, allowing them...

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Main Authors: Foo, Schubert, Pang, Natalie, Zhang, Xue
Other Authors: Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2015
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/105671
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/26053
http://dx.doi.org/10.4017/gt.2014.13.02.325.00
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1056712019-12-06T21:55:33Z UbiCuts : wearable communication and surveillance aids for older adults and the disabled Foo, Schubert Pang, Natalie Zhang, Xue Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Centre of Social Media Innovations for Communities (COSMIC) DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Human anatomy and physiology Purpose: Population ageing is widespread across the whole globe. However, current devices that facilitate social communication are not easily accessible to older adults. Our on-going project aims to provide wearable communication and surveillance aids for older adults and the disabled, allowing them to reach their full potential for social and mental wellbeing and to live independently. Method: We adopted a user-centred approach to develop our Ubiquitous Shortcuts (UbiCuts) system; it consists of a wearable image/video/voice capturing device and a suite of mobile apps, namely, 'Image, Voice, Video, Emergency and Surveillance'. To use the device, older adults or the disabled simply need to open the app, send a voice message or take a photo/video using the wearable device or a smartphone. A series of commands will be triggered as pre-defined by the older adults or their caregivers. These commands or actions include the ability to send a SMS, activate a phone call, and the ability to post a tweet on Twitter or Facebook and so on. The first workable prototype was completed in August 2013. We conducted two rounds of field studies with older adults living alone in oneroom flats in 2012 and 2013. For the second prototype, we plan to integrate the function of image capture into the Samsung smart watch Galaxy Gear, improve the usefulness of UbiCuts by adding another four apps, and enhancing its usability though our understanding user experiences and adaptations through field studies. Results & Discussion: Our observations and interviews uncovered the barriers and difficulties older adults encountered in using smartphones and reinforced the need to develop a wearable tracking device to provide communication and surveillance aids for them. The first prototype of the wearable image-capturing device is in the shape of a bracelet that supports the capture of images but not videos (Figures 1 & 2). The second prototype will be able to capture images, video and voice, and the 'Surveillance' app will be able to monitor both indoor and outdoor safety of older adults and the disabled. The image matching simply requires mere pattern recognition that is more robust; the command sequences can be concatenated to provide flexibility and combinations of commands. The 'Surveillance' app monitors users' safety by simple image comparison among the frames of the recorded video, which is more convenient and flexible in comparison to other fall-detection systems. 2015-06-24T07:22:21Z 2019-12-06T21:55:33Z 2015-06-24T07:22:21Z 2019-12-06T21:55:33Z 2014 2014 Journal Article Foo, S., Pang, N., & Zhang, X. (2014). UbiCuts : wearable communication and surveillance aids for older adults and the disabled. Gerontechnology, 13(2), 196. 1569-1101 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/105671 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/26053 http://dx.doi.org/10.4017/gt.2014.13.02.325.00 en Gerontechnology © 2014 International Society for Gerontechnology.
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Human anatomy and physiology
spellingShingle DRNTU::Science::Biological sciences::Human anatomy and physiology
Foo, Schubert
Pang, Natalie
Zhang, Xue
UbiCuts : wearable communication and surveillance aids for older adults and the disabled
description Purpose: Population ageing is widespread across the whole globe. However, current devices that facilitate social communication are not easily accessible to older adults. Our on-going project aims to provide wearable communication and surveillance aids for older adults and the disabled, allowing them to reach their full potential for social and mental wellbeing and to live independently. Method: We adopted a user-centred approach to develop our Ubiquitous Shortcuts (UbiCuts) system; it consists of a wearable image/video/voice capturing device and a suite of mobile apps, namely, 'Image, Voice, Video, Emergency and Surveillance'. To use the device, older adults or the disabled simply need to open the app, send a voice message or take a photo/video using the wearable device or a smartphone. A series of commands will be triggered as pre-defined by the older adults or their caregivers. These commands or actions include the ability to send a SMS, activate a phone call, and the ability to post a tweet on Twitter or Facebook and so on. The first workable prototype was completed in August 2013. We conducted two rounds of field studies with older adults living alone in oneroom flats in 2012 and 2013. For the second prototype, we plan to integrate the function of image capture into the Samsung smart watch Galaxy Gear, improve the usefulness of UbiCuts by adding another four apps, and enhancing its usability though our understanding user experiences and adaptations through field studies. Results & Discussion: Our observations and interviews uncovered the barriers and difficulties older adults encountered in using smartphones and reinforced the need to develop a wearable tracking device to provide communication and surveillance aids for them. The first prototype of the wearable image-capturing device is in the shape of a bracelet that supports the capture of images but not videos (Figures 1 & 2). The second prototype will be able to capture images, video and voice, and the 'Surveillance' app will be able to monitor both indoor and outdoor safety of older adults and the disabled. The image matching simply requires mere pattern recognition that is more robust; the command sequences can be concatenated to provide flexibility and combinations of commands. The 'Surveillance' app monitors users' safety by simple image comparison among the frames of the recorded video, which is more convenient and flexible in comparison to other fall-detection systems.
author2 Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
author_facet Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
Foo, Schubert
Pang, Natalie
Zhang, Xue
format Article
author Foo, Schubert
Pang, Natalie
Zhang, Xue
author_sort Foo, Schubert
title UbiCuts : wearable communication and surveillance aids for older adults and the disabled
title_short UbiCuts : wearable communication and surveillance aids for older adults and the disabled
title_full UbiCuts : wearable communication and surveillance aids for older adults and the disabled
title_fullStr UbiCuts : wearable communication and surveillance aids for older adults and the disabled
title_full_unstemmed UbiCuts : wearable communication and surveillance aids for older adults and the disabled
title_sort ubicuts : wearable communication and surveillance aids for older adults and the disabled
publishDate 2015
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/105671
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/26053
http://dx.doi.org/10.4017/gt.2014.13.02.325.00
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