Inclusively | Can Wi-Fi sensing help elderly and disabled people live at home independently?

A conversation with Saibal Chakraburtty at Cognitive Systems, Chris Lewis at Lewis Insight, and Monica Paolini at Senza Fili

Inclusivity starts at home. Being able to live independently at home is, for many of us, fundamental to our quality of life. How can technology help us live on our own more safely and give our caretakers better tools to assist us?

We talk to Saibal Chakraburtty, director of product management at Cognitive Systems, about how Wi-Fi sensing can do this.

Wi-Fi sensing uses the Wi-Fi radio signal to detect motion within the Wi-Fi network coverage area. Unlike location-based services, sensing detects the motion of people, pets or objects that have no connected device or sensor, making it very unobtrusive to deploy and operate. In a home environment, it is more respectful of privacy boundaries and does not require a smart home separate infrastructure.

By tracking human motion in a residential environment, Wi-Fi sensing can detect anomalies (such as your mother did not get up this morning, or your father keeps going out of the house for hours at unusual hours) or other patterns that may alert caretakers or trigger an emergency response. We discuss what the technology can do, how it can be deployed and operated, and how Wi-Fi sensing services can be deployed. We also look at some use cases for elderly and disabled people who want to live on their own.

Featuring:

  • Saibal Chakraburtty, Director of Product Management, Cognitive Systems
  • Chris Lewis, Founding Director, Lewis Insight
  • Monica Paolini, Principal, Senza Fili

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In this video discussion series produced by Senza Fili, Chris Lewis of Lewis Insight and Monica Paolini of Senza Fili talk with service providers, vendors, regulators and researchers about how inclusive design can benefit all parties involved in the ecosystem and how being inclusive is not just the right thing to do but also a way to generate new revenues from neglected customers for services they need.

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