Since June, 2011, University of Alberta researchers in collaboration with Edmonton 's Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital have been using IBM software to study elderly clients who volunteer to stay in a model, self-contained "independent living suite" at the facility. The suite is instrumented with sensors and equipped with smart devices collecting information about their daily activities.
The data will be used to understand how to make better use of healthcare resources, enable remote collaboration among providers, and contribute to early intervention and long-term management of chronic diseases. Researchers will also learn how to prepare older people for independent living, and extend the length of time seniors are able to live in their homes.
"We are using an avatar and the visualization to represent the people in the suite as this is far less intrusive than having a video or live monitoring system on them all the time," says Dr. Lili Liu , a professor of occupational therapy at the University of Alberta , and research affiliate at Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.
This virtual-world view can be monitored in real time, and replayed recordings can be used for simulation training for health-sciences students. Ultimately, researchers hope to understand how the integration of sensor networks with virtual worlds can impact the future of at-home health monitoring and care delivery.
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