Smart wearable systems for enhanced monitoring and mobility

The percentage of people over age 65 will shift from 12% to 20% nationwide while the average life expectancy for men and women of all races continues to rise, introducing a national and global concern for health related expenses. In particular, diminished stability leading to an increased risk of falling is on the forefront of medical expense projections. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates there are 285 million suffering from visual impairment (39 million blind, 246 million low vision) worldwide. When adding the aging population with concomitant increases in life expectancy and the climbing rates of vision pathology, the numbers are even more dramatic. Blindness and low vision result in a host of social, emotional and health problems, often due to antecedent difficulties with mobility. This paper presents two smart wearable systems designed to enhance the mobility and monitoring of elderly and those with impaired vision. By using advances in sensors, actuators, and micro-electronics, these wearable systems acquire large amount of data, and with high speed data processing and pattern recognition, provide feedback signals to those wearing them. These systems are self-contained and operate with an easily accessible battery power. Details of the design and analysis of these smart wearable systems are presented.