The Department of Computer Engineering and Information Science developed an innovative Smart walker to respond to the need and discomfort of elderly people facing architectural barriers or physical obstacles which make them perceive the surrounding environment dangerous and threatening. Going out to do their shopping, or take a train or a flight are simple actions which may be extremely difficult for them, or event impossible to perform.
The new Smart Walker was developed within the DALÌ project - Devices for Assisted Living - an ICT international research project, which merged the scientific and technology skill sets of different research areas.
The main novelty compared with the normal walkers for elderly people is the capacity of the device to autonomously acquire dynamic information on the surrounding environment. In this way the user is “guided” by the device, which “chooses” the best routes and detects potential risk situations due to the surrounding environment. The device “guides” the elderly person in three different modalities, which can also be combined. The visual modality shows the suggested route on a tablet; the acoustic modality the route is suggested through the hearing stimulation while the haptic modality allows the user to read the route through a light vibration emitted by the electronic devices inserted in the arm wrists.
The Smart Walker will allow the users to freely move, without needing to be accompanied in their daily routine, thus helping them in regaining their autonomy in their movement, through a constant training.
The users’ physical condition will benefit from the use of the device, because it can be used as a support on which to lean and also to train and walk autonomously. The device’s use is also beneficial for the users’ psychological condition, because they are helped regaining a “normal” and independent life.
The prototype was presented on 22 October, at Fabio Ferrari, in Povo. The representatives of the local institutions and associations dealing with the care of the elderly participated in the presentation, for they are interested in the potentials of this new device.
Luigi Palopoli, the coordinator of the project, illustrated the features of the Smart Walker. Palopoli and his team showed the functioning of the device in an environment which simulates some real life situations.