Later this year, Intel will start a trial on the digital home concept which will involve monitoring and assistive technologies in a number of homes of elderly people.
The idea, explains Intel's Dr Joseph Dalton, of Intel's innovation centre in Dublin, is to provide a safer environment for older people which allows them to live on their own in their own homes for longer.
A site in a rural setting on the east coast has been selected and, coupled with support from the Government and a significant sponsor, Intel has started to seek out the two or three individuals who will take part in the trial.
This trial is based around sensor networks, which are considered about three to five years from mainstream production.
"Sensor networks are like RFID sensors but they are more intelligent. A sensor network can also monitor someone's temperature, heart rate and pulse. They can also measure something like insulin levels or stress levels. This data can both be monitored and also stored to build a profile of the patient's health.
"We aim to look at things such as fall alerts, and activity or inactivity monitors also. The idea over time is to build up a profile of a person's behaviours and patterns and look for a break in these patterns. This break may indicate a problem which can be proactively addressed before it becomes an acute issue.
"For example, a person not drinking water or taking their medication, we would like to know why this may be the case early rather that wait for an illness to come on and the person needing to be hospitalised. This has obvious application for Alzheimers and Parkinsons cases.
"We will be kitting out a normal elderly person's home. The idea is to try and keep people out of retirement homes for as long as possible. To give them the 24/7 support they need to live in their own homes," says Dr Dalton.
"Our idea is that the trial will run for three to six months and then turn into a full-scale deployment. We are doing this with a view to advance care for seniors in the home environment using technologies."