Smartphone and Mobile Image Processing for Assisted Living: Health-monitoring apps powered by advanced mobile imaging algorithms

Smartphones are used by billions of people all over the world and are equipped with various types of sensors and increasingly powerful processors. The number of smartphone-savvy seniors is on the rise due to increased efforts to design elderly friendly smartphone systems and applications (apps). These smartphone capabilities, combined with advanced signal processing algorithms, are a growing platform for different assisted-living solutions, ranging from human-computer interfaces for disabled users to health-monitoring and fitness-tracking devices. This combined software and hardware development, along with the culture of using portable and wearable devices, gives a practical, low-cost, and accessible solution for various assisted living apps and, in particular, physiological monitoring for home or ambulatory settings [1]. However, many of these solutions are not yet mature enough to be released for public use. Our focus here is health-monitoring apps based on mobile imaging to review the current state of the art and discuss the challenges.