Usability of interactive systems with internet of things to control smart homes and health monitoring for elderly people

Abstract

The use of Internet of Things resources has provided numerous possibilities for the integration of technologies used in the domestic context, within the concept known as "smart home". The control with different interactive resources allows a series of possibilities for the effective implementation of resources related to the concept of "ageing-in-place" for elderly people. With such technologies, they can have a better quality of life with support for daily activities in their homes and health monitoring. Ageing brings with it several changes in motor, visual, auditory, cognitive, among others. These characteristics, together with aspects of reduced familiarity of elderly people with interactive technologies, have several implications that must be considered in the design of technologies for them. Despite the evolution of technologies for smart homes and health monitoring, there is still limited knowledge on how to improve the usability of control and monitoring systems to enable effective use by older people. These technologies involve different types of devices, sensors, the interconnection between pieces of equipment and management of technologies with considerable complexity. If these interactive technologies are not properly designed, this can impair the use by elderly people and diminish the benefits that these technologies can bring to increase independence at home. and assist in forms of health monitoring. Thus, this project aims to investigate the usability of smart home control systems with health monitoring using Internet of Things resources, in order to contribute with knowledge about implications for the design of this type of technology for elderly people, with the involvement of them in design and evaluation. The project will be developed from the aggregation of health monitoring resources to an initial prototype of a smart home developed at UFLA, in addition to the aggregation of other appliances and control resources. It is expected to propose design recommendations based on studies with interviews and usability tests with elderly people with different levels of experience with computational resources using the prototype. The study involves research involving elderly people of different profiles, through questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups, to survey interaction needs. The project also involves assessing the usability of an interactive smart home environment with health monitoring capabilities with interaction by voice, gestures, and smartphones. The evaluation will include the performance of tasks in this environment by elderly people, with an in-depth analysis of the interaction, through observation of the interaction and capture of detailed data through eye-tracking. (AU)