Design_for_Elderly_Friendly

Design for Elderly Friendly Alarm system to point out dangerous situation Name: Fauzy Nurjayady Bin Mohamad Student ID: Abstract— As people get older, their body tends to slow down. Certain functions don’t work as well as they used to when you were younger. Their sense seems to lessen too as age increases. For example, loss of some sight, can’t hear as well, and sometimes your fingers don’t have the same sensibility as they used too. Elderly people mental/cognitive ability reduces or dementia symptom always happens in their life. Sometime it happen when they forget to switch off cooking appliance which is can cause on fire. This alarm/alert system will trigger with two condition if cooking or kettle whistling more than 20 minute without supervision the alarm will trigger. Introduction When you think of the elderly or term senior citizen' the words disabled and old come to mind, is it right' Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span of human beings, and thus the end of the human life cycle[1]. Euphemisms and terms for old people include seniors (American usage), senior citizens (British and American usage), and ‘warga emas’ or ‘warga tua’ (Malaysian). The boundary between middle age and old age cannot be defined exactly because it does not have the same meaning in all societies. People can be considered old because of certain changes in their activities or social roles. Examples: people may be considered old when they become grandparents, or when they begin to do less or different work—retirement. [1] In Malaysia, there is no law defining the elderly. However, generally the benchmark to determine the age of this group. Malaysia applied the formula of 60 years as the minimum age set in elderly with the elderly Policy. This ordinance is also generally accepted and applied in the writings of the academic or related parties through the papers, forums and research reports.[2] There is often a general physical decline, and people become less active. Old age can cause, amongst other things: * Wrinkles and liver spots on the skin due to loss of subcutaneous fat * Change of hair colour to gray or white * Hair loss * Reduced circulatory system function and blood flow * Reduced lung capacity * Reduced immune system function * Changes in the vocal cords that produce the typical "old person" voice * Lessened hearing * Diminished eyesight * Reduced mental/cognitive ability. * Depressed mood * Lessening or cessation of sex, sometimes because of physical symptoms such as erectile dysfunction in men, but often simply a decline in libido * Greater susceptibility to bone and joint diseases such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis It must be stressed that each individual is different, and health issues that affect one elderly person may not affect another.[3] CONCEPT AND ISSUE 2.1 Issue Dementia symptoms always happen in elderly life. Always forgotten where they keep valuable things, forget to switch off electric appliance when left out from house and forget to switch off cook dishes. These situation is dangerous as it can trigger fire to house. It happen twice to my mother in law, she forget to switch of the gas cooker. They leave the house for shopping, after 6 house later when they come back to house, luckily nothing bad is happen. 2.2 Concept Dementia is one of the most difficult impairments of elderly people. Design wise, it is an area that is both easy and difficult and as such, quite challenging. Easy because so much is almost over-explicit. Difficult because much of what is worth striving for in dementia is quite different from that which designers have experience of. Great demands are placed on the ability for interaction design and an interaction that often includes the person with dementia and her surroundings in relationship to the designer. Challenging because so much of what has not been done obviously could be, for the benefit of the person with dementia, those in her surroundings and the related social and health care services. Some rules and approaches to follow: * Everything should be done simply for a person with dementia. * The present is the only thing that exits, not a minute ago or then. A designer needs to bear in mind the consequences of this. * Sensory impressions are of far more importance that ever before. Smell, vision, hearing, touching – all play an important role as does music and rhythm. But it has to be the elderly person’s rhythms and music, not that of younger staff members. * The older person becomes like the child she once was – rather than like a child in general. Personality has not disappeared, though, even if many memories have. * Contact can be established with long-term memory, but for that to happen often requires that you blaze a new trail. Clear odors and pictures can be effective. * Enable the establishment of attachment whenever possible. But not with fragile china figurines and other cherished items from the past that the person is simply unable to handle. * Utilize colors much more that they are now. (Example: Use a bright red for attention getting.) * Avoid all choices: A person with dementia is unable to choose.[4] Alarm system design to give alert or notification to elderly if; 1. The cooking more than 20 minute without supervision alarm will trigger. 2. Kettle whistling more than 20 minute without supervision alarm will trigger. 3. Message will appear at main door, so if they want to leave house, they know the gas still on. Main devices; 1. Smoke & heat detector 2. Gas detector 3. Motion detector * Alarm trigger detector Show message at main door Cooking more than 20 minute without supervision APPLICATION Application to be develop have two condition if; 1. The cooking is more than 20 minute, a. heat detector will trigger, b. movement detector no movement more than 20 minute. Output > - alarm trigger * message at door 2. Kettle whistling more than 20 minute c. smoke detector will trigger, d. movement detector no movement more than 20 minute. Output > - alarm trigger * message at door DESIGN In the design process, between problem formulation and problem solution, there are series of decisions or descriptions that define what the problem is. Between problem solution and implementation, there are series of decisions on what is to be done. Between implementation and use, there is the creation of a product (e.g., an interior house design). Environmental inputs to the design process consist of what is available in the environment, mainly: man power (human physical and mental effort), energy, and materials (natural or artificial). Cultural inputs to the design process consist of the combination of the following components: technology, knowledge, and value systems. Technology is divided into machines, solutions, and processes. Machines, implements, tools, previous knowledge, knowledge of usage and know-how, as well as knowledge on the real needs and requirements of the end-users are all affecting factors. Technology provides inputs and modifies the design process.[5] 4.1 Smoke & heat detector A heat detector is a fire alarm device designed to respond when the convected thermal energy of a fire increases the temperature of a heat sensitive element. The thermal mass and conductivity of the element regulate the rate flow of heat into the element. All heat detectors have this thermal lag. Heat detectors have two main classifications of operation, "rate-of-rise" and "fixed temperature." The most common fixed temperature point for electrically connected heat detectors is 136.4°F (58°C) A smoke detector is a device that detects smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. Commercial, industrial, and mass residential devices issue a signal to a fire alarm system, while household detectors, known as smoke alarms, generally issue a local audible or visual alarm from the detector itself. Most smoke detectors work either by optical detection (photoelectric) or by physical process (ionization), while others use both detection methods to increase sensitivity to smoke. Sensitive alarms can be used to detect, and thus deter, smoking in areas from the kettle. 4.2 Gas detector A gas detector is a device which detects the presence of various gases within an area, usually as part of a safety system. This type of equipment is used to detect a gas leak and interface with a control system so a process can be automatically shut down. A gas detector can also sound an alarm to operators in the area where the leak is occurring, giving them the opportunity to leave the area. This type of device is important because there are many gases that can be harmful to organic life, such as humans or animals. Gas detectors can be used to detect combustible, flammable and toxic gases, and oxygen depletion. This type of device is used widely in industry and can be found in a variety of locations such as on oil rigs, to monitor manufacture processes and emerging technologies such as photovoltaic. They may also be used in firefighting. 4.3 Motion Detector Motion detection is a process of confirming a change in position of an object relative to its surroundings or the change in the surroundings relative to an object. This detection can be achieved by both mechanical and electronic methods. In addition to discrete, on or off motion detection, it can also consist of magnitude detection that can measure and quantify the strength or speed of this motion or the object that created it. Conclusion According to statistics recorded by the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the proportion of older people aged 60 and above in 2008 was 1.9 million. This amount represents 6.8 percent of all Malaysians. Furthermore, it is clear that trans generational design and universal design are issues, which are becoming of great importance within society. There is growing awareness and interest among designers, ergonomists, and other professionals in the challenge that the ageing of societies presents to the design, retailing and manufacturing communities. Most of elderly person live separately with their son. So only left husband and wife in the house. It happen frequently when they forget to switch off electric appliance and cooking gas when leave house. This is dangerous, can trigger fire. Usually the alarm system only for burglar. But why not we upgrade this system to trigger unsupervised cooking jobs. Hopefully it will help elderly who have dementia problem especially to avoid this dangerous situation. References Old Age, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_age, Retrieved 30/3/2012 * Nazruzila Razniza Mohd Nadzri, Jaminan Kewangan pada Usia Emas, Dewan Masyarakat Mac 2012. * * [3] Old Age – Physical Changes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_age, Retrieved 30/3/2012 * * [4] Prof Birgita Orden, Lund University Sweden and Prof Barbro Beck-Friis, Silviahemmet. Elderly People And Design, Department of Design Science Research Paper. * * [5] Oya Demirbilek. Involving the elderly in the design process: A participatory design model for usability, safety and attractiveness, A thesis submitted to the institute of Economics and social sciences of Bilkent University. * *