Personalizable smartphone-based system adapted to assist dependent people

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Igual, Raul^; | Plaza, Inmaculada | Medrano, Carlos | Rubio, Maria Angeles

Affiliations: R&D&I EduQTech Group, Escuela Universitaria Politecnica de Teruel, University of Zaragoza, Teruel, Spain

Note: [] Corresponding author. Phone number: (+34) 978 61 81 02. E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract: This paper presents an assisted living application to facilitate the life of dependent people. It emerges from an extensive fieldwork focused on identifying the real needs of two groups: the elderly and people with intellectual disability. As a result, a list of requirements was obtained, including a description of functionalities and aspects of usability and design. Since it was not possible to find an existing system that meets these requirements, a new technological solution has been developed. It is composed of two parts, a pervasive application for smartphones and a Web application. The system is managed and controlled by the Web application, which is handled by caregivers. Dependent people interact only with the smartphone application that can be easily customized. Its interface has been designed to be intuitive, unobtrusive and extremely simple to use. A pilot test has been performed for 4 months with real users. Experts from different areas have designed an extensive evaluation following a standardized method. Its results show that the system is easy to handle, meets the users' needs, allows high levels of personalization, helps to increase security and has a high acceptability by both dependent people and their caregivers.

Keywords: Assistive technologies, smartphones, health care, design for special groups

DOI: 10.3233/AIS-140285

Journal: Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart Environments, vol. 6, no. 6, pp. 569-593, 2014