FaPre

The approach chosen for the FaPre project is to equip the home with a network of smart sensors that can identify a person’s location, a fall or lack of balance and their posture. The following systems will be used:

• Accelerometers placed on the patient
• Pressure sensors on the floor, on furniture and on clothing
• Volumetric sensors that measure infrared radiation emitted by the surface of the body or that detect reflected ultrasonic waves

Thanks to contact sensors on doors, for example, it will be possible to identify the user’s position, while floor sensors will supply more precise location data. It will be possible to monitor various body positions (standing, tilted or stretched out) using a mercury-free level sensor vial or a multi-axis accelerometer. These instruments are able to identify the body’s angle, the speed of rotation and acceleration, detecting any falls. In addition, videocameras placed in strategic parts of the house will allow us to monitor and analyse the patient’s movements (privacy will be guaranteed by blurring the image and studying only the outline of the user’s body).

The elderly target user’s acceptance of the FaPre solution will be planned, measured and adapted during the entire duration of the project, involving real users right from the first stages identifying project requirements up until field tests are carried out.