A Helping Hand to the Elderly: Securing Their Freedom through the HAIE Framework

Abstract

The life expectancy of the elderly has substantially increased compared to earlier times. The primary factors are greater awareness of nutrition, the environment, and personal hygiene. Advances in science and technology have also extended the lifespans of the aging population. Traditional care methods are inadequate to address this situation. To maintain the socioeconomic structure, there is a need for the integration of advanced frameworks. In this context, we propose a smart framework called human activity Internet of Things-enabled environment (HAIE) to provide a non-human assistive environment that helps the elderly live independently. Research into aging in place and assistive environments has focused on modernized environments, largely neglecting the impact of technology on the lives of elderly individuals who stay at home. This work addresses the gap by integrating advanced technologies, such as cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT). The inclusion of IoT facilitates a smart and automated environment for the elderly. Cloud integration enables the storage of large volumes of data for further analysis and the identification of patterns for future advancements. It also introduces the concept of accessing data from anywhere, on any device, at any time. To validate this work, two primary parameters were considered: accuracy and latency. Through simulation, the proposed HAIE model has demonstrated an accuracy of 93% out of 100 attempts and a latency of 84.35 ms for the deployed case studies under the HAIE framework.