Designing Smart Ring for the Health of the Elderly: The CloudIA Project

This paper describes the design and development of a wearable device, able to monitor physiological data, movement and falls, for fragile older person who require health care. Some approaches of Universal Design and Human-Centred Design were used, which allowed to evaluate and design the interaction between the person and the system. From a design point of view, studies on wearability and the most appropriate landmarks of the human body were carried out, suitable for monitoring heartbeat, movement and falls. From an engineering point of view, the main challenge was the miniaturization of the electronic components for the development of a wearable device to be placed on a small surface of the body, able to allow the performance of daily activities without altering the natural movements of the user, also considering the physical limitations of older and fragile people. Our results indicate how digital technologies, specifically wearable, can be a resource to support the independence and psycho-physical well-being of old people. The next step of the research program concerns the experimentation with a significant sample of typical users (elderly and socio-health professionals), both in nursing home and at home.