Professor Yan (2nd from right) hopes CIMDA Care, which is easy to install and user-friendly, will offer an interactive experience for older adults and instant support for caregivers.
A comprehensive AI assistance system for older people developed by the Centre for Intelligent Multidimensional Data Analysis (CIMDA) at CityU won the Bronze Prize in the 2nd Smart Ageing Award for Health Care and Well-Being.
CIMDA Care combines functions for daily life and entertainment with four dedicated features, each enhancing the quality of life for seniors: exercise, chat, entertainment and reminders.
The system adopts three technologies: AI Pose Estimation, Natural Language Processing and Human Motion Data Analysis and Computer Animation.
In AI Pose Estimation, mainly for exercise, a virtual character demonstrates exercises suitable for older adults. The unique characteristic is the automatic posture detection using a camera in tandem with 3D skeletonal motion recognition technology to evaluate performance and provide instant voice guidance.
The system adopts speech recognition and advanced chat technology, enabling seniors to communicate and interact with the virtual character. Natural language processing is used to analyse language and imitate how human talks. In addition, the system allows seniors to socialise at home through karaoke and dance using a virtual character generated from dynamic and computer-generated data that imitate human actions.
The system can also offer reminders on when to take medication and show the medication type, amount and a photo. Additionally, family and carers can be notified about health issues and monitor medication and exercise remotely if they live elsewhere, significantly reducing their stress.
“The digital technology currently available for healthcare and quality of life for older people is still very limited, and the market lacks awareness about their needs. There is also a lack of investment in gerontechnology. So CIMDA is excited to have more opportunities to work with the technology and elder care professionals to enhance the system and develop other digital services,” said?Professor Yan Hong, Director of CIMDA and Wong Chun Hong Professor of Data Engineering.
He added: “The initial implementation phase for CIMDA Care is intended for larger institutions such as care centres for seniors and hospitals. We hope the system, which is easy to install and user-friendly, will offer an interactive experience for older adults and instant support for caregivers.”
Working closely with top universities and research leaders from institutions and industry, CIMDA is a world-class research centre established under the InnoHK programme funded by the Innovation and Technology Commission in Hong Kong. It focuses on real-world applications in multimedia and biomedical big data analysis, sound/music/dance composition, virtual coaching for dance and fitness exercises, digital entertainment, care for seniors, computer animation and augmented reality, and parallel computing.
The Smart Ageing Award for Health Care and Well-Being is handed out by the Golden Age Foundation, a multi-sector platform that fosters the development of smart ageing cities in Asia.
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