HackNTU Participants Help the Elderly

Exosite was one of the major sponsors at HackNTU 2016, the largest hackathon in Asia with over 600 participants from across the globe. Teams were given 40 hours to plan and develop an innovative new solution to problems under five different categories. Exosite and our partner, Microchip, supplied access to development kits and our IoT platform, Murano. The most creative and well-executed projects were rewarded with enterprise awards from Exosite and Microchip, with the winning team focusing their project on simplifying care for the elderly.

To add some perspective, a major challenge within Taiwanese society is meeting the needs of their aging population. By the year 2025, 14% of the population will be 65 or older according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Their society is becoming more aware of risks within the home, as well as social isolation issues, which has renewed interest on how to prevent accidents within the homes of the elderly.

Most senior citizens refuse to use wearable sensors, so it is difficult for nursing homes or family members to be aware of how things are going. The winning team took this problem and created a solution that would monitor the home rather than the individual.

The device could be mounted to the bathroom door within the home, and can detect temperature, humidity, time, dust particles in the air, and door activity. Data is collected from sensors on the device and sent to Murano to be analyzed. Automatic alerts can be sent out in cases of emergencies, such as a fall, as well as monitoring trends and patterns that may indicate other health problems.

The team also created a smartphone app so that family members and caretakers can remotely check on the status of the home whenever they want. This would enable a better quality and system of care for the elderly, as well as a peace of mind for loved ones.

Projects like these are a powerful reminder of the possibilities that become achievable through incorporating IoT. As a global society, we are constantly revolutionizing the way that we approach problems and develop solutions through emerging technologies. With innovative new solutions like this being created, it’s easy to see that the future of IoT is very bright.

To explore your ideas and bring them into reality, feel free to try out our IoT platform Murano. If you’d like to learn more about the possibilities of IoT, contact our IoT experts to see what we can do for you.