Real time location and tracking system for elderly assisted living

Abstract

Singapore is facing the problem of a growing ageing population. A research report from Swiss banking giant UBS found that the Republic is set to be the world's third fastest ageing nation, as the proportion of those aged 65 and above will double to 20 per cent in 2020.[1] This is a cause for concern, as it is perceived to lead to various health security implications. Hence, more measures must be made in order to reduce the impact on the ageing population.

In this project, we shall concentrate on a possible way of aiding the elderly in their daily lives at home. The idea is to create a system to track the actions and anticipate the needs of the elderly person within a home environment. This project assumes that tracking is done using Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) technology.

The system assumes RFID tags worn by the elderly person is capable of transmitting the X,Y,Z coordinates of the elderly person at home in real time. No actual RFID tags will be utilized during this project but a set of coordinates will be used to simulate this tracking of the elderly person. The developed software allows for easy input of home layout, assisting the elderly to turn on and off lights by anticipating their needs and the detection of falls. Other possible usage of this software will also be discussed.