Healthy Aging in Place: An Integrated Smart Home Using Alexa-compatible Technology

The purpose of this research was to address current healthcare concerns among the aging population. Around the globe, the average life expectancy is projected to continue increasing resulting in a higher prevalence of age-related disease. With the ever-increasing capabilities of modern technology, it is necessary to apply this technology to increase the health and safety of older adults. This work had three objectives. The first objective was the establishment of an integrated smart home aimed at creating a healthy aging-in-place environment through the use of Alexa. The second objective was the development and integration of a completely custom health device that could display two-way communication with the voice assistant platform. The third objective was to display the telemedicine and education capabilities of Alexa using custom skills implementing a variety of Q&A methods. These two Skills would each accomplish a different purpose. COTS devices were implemented into the smart home system to show the ease of expanding the concept. The custom device created was the Alexa-compatible automatic pill dispenser. It was modeled using the CAD software Solidworks. It was then printed from ABS plastic using the Fortus 250mc 3D printer. A custom Alexa Skill was created to interface the pill dispenser with the Alexa device. Finally, additional custom Skills were created using Alexa Blueprints