Communication Aid for the Elderly
Team Members Heading link
- Shikan Lian
- Zhuoyi Rong
- Di Yang
- Yiming Zeng
Advisor: Vladimir Goncharoff, PhD
Project Description Heading link
Personal communication technology has undergone an unprecedented boom in recent decades, as people routinely send email, text messages, and post on social media platforms such as Facebook. However, many elderly people who have difficulty in operating a computer or smartphone are left behind. Even the simple task of sending or receiving text messages may be difficult for them. With this in mind, we developed an easy-to-use text-messaging device for the elderly. Whenever text messages are received they are displayed in large font on a display, and the sound of a bell is produced. An elderly person can reply to yes/no questions within the text message by pressing a single button. Various shortcut keys to send standard messages, along with a simple speech-to-text interface, are also provided. Optionally, a necklace with a help button can be used to trigger the sending of an emergency text message to a pre-stored number. Our system is based on a Raspberry Pi microcomputer with a WiFi connection to the Internet and an online service that provides an interface to text messaging. A Bluetooth connection ties the portable “panic button necklace” to the Raspberry Pi.