Monitoring and Alarm Handling Systems

The personal alarm system is based on the combination of the following components:

• An environmental monitoring subsystem: Which is able to detect movements in the flat and construct a normal user’s profile for each flat or house. Sudden changes to the normal pattern are detected and reported to the Contact Centre. The Contact Centre is then able to establish voice communication with the flat or house to check the real occurrence of an accident before the emergency procedure is launched. The environmental alarm system can be extended with a large variety of wireless detectors (smoke, gas, water leak, etc.) which can render the environmental monitoring more comprehensive and more reliable by cross-checking a large number of parameters to detect anomalous situations.

• A health monitoring subsystem: Which is composed by a set of self-operated medical devices, the number and the type of which is determined according to the specific health condition of each single individual and the main health threats to which he/she is exposed. Environmental sensors and medical devices are linked to a local concentrator (the H.I.S. Central Unit) through wireless communications (Bluetooth or RF). Measurement of the vital parameters of each individual will be taken according to a schedule which is personalised to the specific needs of that individual, and sent by the H.I.S. Central Unit through fixed (PSTN or ADSL) or mobile (GPRS or UMTS) communication links to a Decision Support System (CenterSight™).

• A mobile alarm and localisation system: Constituted by a cellular phone, the Butler, which has been purpose-designed for use by elderly people. The Butler provides a number of remarkable features such as an integrated fall detector and a positioning system based on a combination of cellular network and radio beacons. Thanks to the Butler, the elderly person can be monitored and located wherever he/she is and, through the combined use of the fixed H.I.S. Central Unit and the Butler, the residence and the individual can be monitored independently from one another.

Decision Support System (CenterSight™)

Data transmitted to the Contact Centre are received, analysed and stored by a Decision Support System named CenterSight™ which operates on the basis of a set of personalised rules which will be agreed with each pilot site and depend on the specific profile of each elderly person and on the type of problem detected.

Elderly-friendly videoconferencing

The videoconferencing environment is a software-based solution which runs on a standard PC-based Set-Top Box under MS-Windows or Linux and allows point-to-point sessions. To offer an acceptable quality of images the communication link must have a guaranteed bandwidth of at least 128Kbps, using ISDN or ADSL protocols.

The videoconferencing environment has been designed to function on any IP network and uses proprietary audio and video codec. The TV-like user interface does not require the use of a keyboard or any other PC-specific input device. Selections are made using a normal infrared remote-control.

The videoconferencing system is compatible with the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) standard.