Home Care

The HomeCare project aims to integrate technological advances in home automation and user interaction through the TV.

juan-manuel-corchado-homecare-01

A standard TV and remote control were chosen as communication tools due to the great familiarity that users have with these devices and their management. TV is much easier to use by people with little or no knowledge of Informatics.

The current version is based on a web platform, designed for use in low-resource hardware supports (such as set-top box or Raspberry Pi). It also seeks to create an ecosystem that allows us to know the state of the home and its inhabitants. To do this we will use the information we can get from the different sensors located within the home.

There are many possible applications. For example, by installing sensors on doors and windows it is possible to have a security system that notifies the user of all entrances and exits of the house. This notification may be made on TV, by e-mail, through a whatsapp or similar message, whether the user is watching a program or, if desired, the TV is off (standby mode).

The main idea is that through the TV the user can have access to a range of services aimed at assisting the elderly, disabled, or any other type of user. This service could include a request for an appointment with the doctor or a request for transportation.

The TV display is achieved by embedding a viewer plugin in the browser, which provides access to a Freeview tuner, integrated or external (usually connected via USB). Thus, an expensive internet connection is not required to use the system.

In order to transmit the information and enable the elderly user to communicate with the control center, the system may use the user’s internet connection, but these connections are usually expensive and they are not good in rural environments. To reduce costs and allow transmitting the information, the system may be integrated with a WIFI network at a low cost. The research group may deploy WIFI networks with very low cost custom software developed by BISITE, based on 5GHz and 2.4GHz networks. These technologies allow creating point to point connections in a range of 50 km and omnidirectional connections in 10 km to provide service to a whole village. This way, the users wouldn’t need to have an internet connection at home and they could use the low cost WIFI service provided by a piece of hardware with a cost of 60 euros.

juan-manuel-corchado-homecare-03