Human-centered design of a smart “wireless sensor network environment” enhanced with movement analysis system and indoor positioning qualifications

Nowadays, the average age of the world population is progressively rising; consequently, several individuals are diagnosed with age-related illnesses and require to be monitored and assisted continually, both in their own houses and in retirement homes. In addition, it's demonstrated that the early detection of disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, major depression or other types of senile dementia, can be accomplished by analyzing the movements and the behavior of high-risk patients. In this work, we describe a 2.45 GHz RFID reader, exploiting the Monopulse RADAR capabilities for an electronic mono-dimensional beam-steering, in order to simultaneously track multiple tagged entities, static or dynamic, located in harsh electromagnetic environments. In addition, a system of inertial sensors, such as accelerometers and gyroscopes, is also illustrated: thanks to the combination of these two technologies, long-term people habits and ambient occupancy can be accurately evaluated in typical indoor scenarios. This amount of data can be collected and exploited for various feedbacks both by the family members and the medical team to assist the patients for an early diagnosis and care.