Project idea: Using Virtual Reality Worlds to Support Assisted Living residents 24/7

Assisted Living proposal  - 

Definition.

Assisted living residences or assisted living facilities (ALFs) provide supervision or assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs); coordination of services by outside health care providers; and monitoring of resident activities to help to ensure their health, safety, and well-being. Assistance may include the administration or supervision of medication, or personal care services provided by a trained staff person. Assisted living as it exists today emerged in the 1990's as an eldercare alternative on the continuum of care for people, normally seniors, who cannot live independently in a private residence, but who do not need the 24-hour medical care provided by a nursing home. Assisted living is a philosophy of care and services promoting independence and dignity.  Enabling a self service culture using ICT and Virtual Reality environments can provide social interaction and support for the many required facilities

What can MellaniuM VRW technology offer?

Better management of Medical staff:

Will allow early warning of resident’s condition to prepare services in advance. Reduce work loads by home monitoring and auto alert

Remote treatment:

Reduce hospital admissions, Reach disadvantaged individuals,

Continuous monitoring

Early diagnostic, comprehensive records of resident’s general well-being, Checking, constant contact and help,

Benefits:

Residents can stay longer in their own home or private residence.

Savings:

Better use of qualified staff; reduced travel expense and time, greener environment.

Ease of use:

Using the Web.alive and MellaniuM VRW software platform we can provide 24/7 contact with residents at their own home.  The “one-click and you’re in” capability ensures a fast, easy entry and use.

Contact of residents can be made to and by friends, relations, health care providers, doctors, nurses, etc. at any time 24/7.

Provide a range of environments that can be utilised for informing, consulting, demonstrating, reassuring realistically every function of communication for a healthcare provision. Many of these environments will mimic formal settings and will be for two individuals for confidentiality reasons. However, the environments can host above 1000 individuals at once, therefore conferences, annual general meetings and first-hand training or allow residents with the same issues interact with each other.

By the use of haptic devices remote real-time and off-line logging or monitoring of conditions; e.g., blood pressure, pulse, etc. , can be connected and remotely monitored.  (Many haptic devices are available as COTS but some may need developing for certain conditions).  Use of mobiles phones to link haptic devices to the Home PC and base wirelessly is possible and in development.

A large number of residents can be monitored in one place (at the base) 24/7 and help provided or summoned on-line when necessary.  Bases can monitored to provide safety critical applications are responded.

Provides the “smoke up the chimney” assurance that all is well.

Delivery:

Home:   A Standard PC (Laptop or Desktop) with broadband connection.

Recommend:

  Windows XP/Vista ;

  Intel 945 integrated graphics or better ;

  1 GB RAM, 1.50GHz CPU;

But will work with a lower specification.

Server:  capable of hosting the Virtual Reality Worlds and necessary bandwidth (a number geographically located and cached to ensure reliability is recommended).

Base(s):  Server administration access to the Virtual Reality Worlds;

 LCD monitors with all base residents displayed and data being monitored and recorded. 

Access to emergency services, doctors, health care workers, etc.

Virtual Reality Worlds:

MellaniuM Virtual Reality Worlds are visualisations that are highly realistic representations of the environment in which we all live.  These computer generated visual worlds can be used for many commercial applications;  examples for assisted living can be the doctors, clinic, hospital, favorite meeting place, etc. all accessed by one click.   They can be deployed on laptops, desktop computers or sophisticated systems via the internet or visually projected locally depending on the schema.   VRW environments are tele-immersive, multi-user (over 1000 at a time), on-line, highly realistic, 3D first-person perspective environments that blend 3D photo- realistic graphics with in-world realism and 3D spatial audio. 

See  http://wa-184-73-220-81.projectchainsaw.com

For a technology demonstration and ask for a tour from  AVAYA

And then:

http://ec3v3.projectchainsaw.com

http://apex.projectchainsaw.com

http://elianealhadeff.blogspot.com/2009/07/serious-gaming-in-hyper-realistic.html

MellaniuM On The Verge Of 3D Convergence
MellaniuM: When Reality Feels Like a Serious Game
MellaniuM: Serious Games Widening Your Horizons By Simulating The WorldSerious Gaming With World’s Heritage

http://www.calebbooker.com/blog/

http://mellanium13.blogspot.com/

http://www.skribeproductions.com/2009/02/26/checking-out-mellaniums-apartment/

http://archsl.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/hanging-out-shoehorn-stunning-realtime-multi-user-architectural-visualization-in-a-web-browser/

For Mellanium web page and application examples see  www.mellanium.co.uk

For videos and articles www.mellanium.com;  demonstrations :  skype:  joe133952

Costs:  Estimate.

Home:  Laptop or Desktop:  ~£500  +  haptic device  +  £10/month Internet (broadband)

Base:  2 PCs Desktop  £1000 + LCD Monitors + Backup + UPS

Staff:  3 shifts of 2 persons  24/7

Virtual Reality World production:

Depends on complexity, and content; but are reusable for many users.

£60 / hour is a good estimate for design and development.

Objective:

Other areas to which this proposal can apply:

Other areas which this proposal may provide assistance:

Mental  health;

Health care;

Primary Care;

Training

Social services;

Traumatisation;

Disability;

Samaritans;

Sex advice;

Etc,

We are looking for haptic, diagnostic device and sensor manufacturers, integrators, RTOS, driver, standards, people.  Assisted Technology applications and system integration.