Mobile Phones: Enabling Next Generation Gerontechnologies

1. Mobile Phones: Enabling Next Generation Gerontechnologies Sean J. Barbeau Research Associate Center for Urban Transportation Research College of Engineering University of South Florida

2. Topics • Overview of today and tomorrow’s mobile phone technology • Example: The Travel Assistant Device • Challenges with Real-time Mobile Applications • Conclusion 2

3. Opportunities • 3.25 billion wireless subscribers (½ of world’s population) • Many methods of communication on cell phone (sounds, pictures, video, touch) for advanced user interfaces • Key to reaching the elderly population who are not “digital natives” • Cell Phones can help ease the aging process: • Real-time transit navigation for individuals that can no longer drive • Bluetooth hearing aids allow phone conversations for hearing-impaired • Tracking systems to monitor health/location of early-stage dementia patients • Medication reminders – Instantly update after doctor’s visit • Allows individuals to remotely check on elderly parents • Real-time assistance and monitoring can: • Enhance individual’s quality of life • Prolong the individual’s independence • Delay institutionalization and full-time care 3

4. Mobile Technology • Cell Phones are the first widely distributed mobile devices that are: • Affordable • Programmable • Java for mobile devices = J2ME • Always connected • Almost any software application can be adapted for cell phones • Previously separated from Internet, but now connected 4

5. Mobile Technology • Today, many cell phone data communications are IP-based: • Browsing the web • Accessing email • Installed client applications talking to a server • Current Java-enabled cell phones must support HTTP, many also support TCP and UDP • However, most voice calls are not IP-based 5

6. Mobile Technology • Tomorrow: IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS) • Everything-over-IP (Voice, Video, etc..) • Network and Technology Agnostic • Allows voice and data services simultaneously • Sessions (via SIP) hold information on users: • Device Capabilities • Presence (Online or Offline) • Location (Geographic Coordinates) • A user can move from one device or network to another during a session. Examples: • Cell phone switches from using cellular network to your WiFi network when you arrive home without interruption • You’re on your work phone with a colleague but need to leave the office. Call is instantly transferred to your cell. • Cell Phones become a true mobile extension to the Internet 6

7. Mobile Technology • Network evolution reaching broadband speeds • Ex. CDMA data rates (Sprint, Verizon): Now End of 2007 End of 2008 7

8. Mobile Technology No Network? – No Problem! • Bluetooth • Short-range (30ft) technology used to transfer information between 2 devices • Phone-to-Phone • Phone-to-hearing aid • Phone-to-health monitor • Near-Field Communication (NFC) • Allows you to “swipe” your cell phone • Buy things, prove your identity, etc. • Now available in U.S. phones 8 Source: Cristina Martinez Byvik

9. Mobile Technology Global Positioning System (GPS) • Device uses satellite signals to determine its current location • Accurate up to 3-5 meters • Small enough to manufacture as a “chip” inside phone • Assisted GPS (aGPS) uses data provided by the cellular network to reduce time-to-first-fix • Enables Location-Based Services (LBS) 9

10. Travel Assistant Device (TAD) • Helps guide transit riders with cognitive disabilities • Used by Travel Trainers (Employees of transit agencies who introduce new riders to transit) • Keeps rider safe and eases parental anxieties 10

11. “Travel Assistant Device” for Special Needs Riders • Scenario: Joe needs to get from Home to Work and back using transit 11

12. “Travel Assistant Device” for Special Needs Riders • Most of the time Joe gets off at the right stop, but sometimes he forgets to pull the stop handle. 12

13. “Travel Assistant Device” for Special Needs Riders • Let’s try again, this time with a “Travel Assistant Device”. Joe’s cell phone will ring and vibrate when the bus is approaching the “Reminder A” location, prior to his bus stop. 13

14. “Travel Assistant Device” for Special Needs Riders • When his phone rings, Joe remembers to pull the stop handle. Joe arrives safely at the correct bus stop. 14

15. “Travel Assistant Device” for Special Needs Riders • A second reminder can be established for her ride home.

16. “Travel Assistant Device” for Special Needs Riders • Joe arrives home safely. The reminders are triggered by his location, so time of day doesn’t matter. 16

17. “Travel Assistant Device” for Special Needs Riders • Alarms is triggered if a rider deviates from their planned route. • Can use multimedia alarms & reminders: • Play a recorded audio message. • Show a picture/video of the next stop or landmark. 17

18. “Travel Assistant Device” for Special Needs Riders • Travel Trainers and Caretakers can instantly see where the rider is currently located by using a web page. 18

19. Challenges • Cutting-edge and next-generation “Gerontechnology” systems will be driven by real-time access to information • Networked mobile applications are inherently different from traditional networked applications • Need to solve new problems! 19

20. Challenges • Power, a very limited resource, is consumed by: • CPU calculations • Wireless transmissions • GPS fixes • Wireless transmissions: • Communication often fails • Reliable protocols (i.e. TCP) cause multiple re-transmissions • Retransmissions drain battery, and aren’t useful for real-time LBS • Every bit transferred costs power • But so does using compression algorithms • Every bit transferred costs $ • GPS • Every fix costs power • GPS signals aren’t always available • Attempting to get a fix while indoors can result in large power costs 20

21. Challenges • GPS fix + UDP Transmission every 4 seconds • Battery lasts 5.06 hrs • GPS fix + UDP Transmission every 30 seconds • Battery lasts 9.6 hrs 12

22. Solutions • “Critical Point Algorithm” – only send GPS points that are required to reconstruct a trip • Don’t send coordinate on every fix • Vary GPS refresh rate if possible • Check cell signal availability before sending data 22 Without Critical Point Algorithm With Critical Point Algorithm

23. Solutions – “Critical Point” Without Critical Point Algorithm With Critical Point Algorithm 23

24. Solutions – “Critical Point” 24 *Based on 119 bytes per UDP package and a charge of $0.03 per kilobyte.

25. Conclusions • Mobile phones are enabling new “Gerontechnologies” • All IP-based future means cell phones will be seamlessly integrated with networks • However, mobile applications are subject to new problems! • Recognizing these problems and creating solutions leads to successful applications 25

26. Thanks! Sean J. Barbeau Research Associate Center for Urban Transportation Research University of South Florida 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, CUT100 Tampa, FL 33620-5375 (813) 974-7208 (813) 974-5168 (fax) barbeau@cutr.usf.edu 26