Assistive environments for successful aging

With nearly 80 million baby boomers in the United States just reaching their sixties, the demand for senior-oriented devices and services will explode in the coming years. Managing the increasing health-care costs for such a population requires developing technologies that will allow seniors to maintain active, independent lifestyles. Pervasive computing pervasive computing environments, such as smart homes , bundle assistive technologies assistive technology and specially designed architectural and home furnishing elements provide health-care and well-being services to its residents. However, for such environments to be commercially viable, we require a system that allows technology to be easily utilized and included as it enters the market place. Also we require new technology to be introduced in a plug-and-play fashion, and applications that are developed by programmers, not system integrators. The Gator Tech Smart House, a full-size, free-standing residential home located in the Oak Hammock Retirement Community in Gainesville, Florida, is an example of this kind of assistive environment . It uses the Atlas sensor network platform, an enabling technology that combines a hardware platform and software middleware , making the Gator Tech Smart House a truly programmable pervasive computing space.