Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme
CIP-Pilot actions 2007-2013 297178
Fall Detector for the Elder
EU Falls Festival
Parallel Session A: EU Project
Showcase
FATE presentation
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Outline
2
¡  Introduction to FATE
¡  Brief description and objectives
¡  FATE Technological approach
¡  Implemented pilots
¡  COOSS experience
¡  TER/NUIG experience
¡  FATE lessons learnt
¡  Generation of a market product: SENSE4CARE
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Introduction to FATE project: main objectives
3
•  FATE is a CIP-ICT-PSP project
•  Timeline: 1/3/2012 – 31/5/2015
•  Validate an innovative and efficient ICT-based solution
focused on improving the elder’s quality of life by an
accurate detection of falls, both at home and outdoors
•  A system contributing to the fall prevention
•  Analysis of the performance of FATE connected to
already existing call centers and alarm reception
centers.
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
FATE: additional objectives
4
¡  Improvement of the quality of life of elderly people with risk of
falling.
¡  Validation of the system through the organization of pilots in 3
countries, with the participation of 205 users.
•  From a technological view point
•  From a usability view point
¡  Use of complementary devices:
•  Fall detector worn in the waist
•  Bed sensor during the night
•  i-Walker testing together with the fall detector
¡  Test of the user experience from the call centre owner view
point.
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
FATE: European dimension
5
3 main pilots
•  Tech support
•  Med support
•  Call center
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Technological approach
6
¡  The technological set used in FATE for piloting purposes:
•  The fall detector sensor
•  The bed sensor
Central
computer
•  Smartphone
•  Home computer
•  Zigbee wall-routers
•  Bluetooth dongle
ZigBee
routers
Smartphone
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Bed sensor
Set of components and functionality
7
•  Bed presence sensor:
–  Detects if the user has not been present in bed for a specified
amount of time when not wearing the fall detector
•  Central computer:
–  Coordinator of the ZigBee network
–  Relays to the smartphone the messages sent by the fall
detector and the bed presence sensor
•  Wireless components:
–  Bluetooth dongle (central computer)
–  ZigBee dongle (central computer)
–  ZigBee wall routers
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Set of components and functionality (and 2)
8
•  Smartphone:
–  Manages the messages sent by the fall detector and bed
presence sensor
–  Generates alerts for the call centre
Alerts
Fall detection
Fall recovery
User panic
No sensor/low
batt
No sensor
(fall?)
Out of bed
(fall?)
Description
The fall detector detects a fall and a specified amount of time
has expired without neither a user recovery or a cancellation
through the application
A fall has been detected but the fall detector found that the user
was able to stand up afterwards
The user has pressed the panic button on the fall detector
The smartphone and the central computer don’t receive any
communication from the fall detector for a specified amount of
time, and the last message received indicated a low battery
value
The smartphone and the central computer don’t receive any
communication from the fall detector for a specified amount of
time, and the last message received indicated a correct battery
value
The user left bed during nighttime and didn’t come back after a
specified amount of time
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Smartphone interface
9
•  Messages at
different levels
•  Timing filters for
avoiding false
alarms
•  Low battery
indication
•  Android OS
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Pilots activity
10
•  Scientific protocol designed to assess the FATE system in
multiple domains, including user and stakeholder perspectives
•  Participants will undergo an intervention period (6 months) and a
control period (6 months) separated by a washout period
(minimum 1 month)
•  SPAIN: 75 users living at home
•  Italy: 50 users living at home + 30 users in FSL hospital
•  Ireland: 50 users living at home
Three different Call centers
or Alarm reception units with
different protocols
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Pilot activity: inclusion criteria
11
•  Older than 64 years old
•  At least 1 fall in the previous 6 months or alternatively a high
enough risk of fall determined by the responsible of the local
recruitment
•  Ability to walk without human assistance indoors.
•  Willing to participate in the study and wanting to co-operate in all
its parts, accepting the performance regulations and procedures
provided by the researchers
•  A family member or relative available
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Pilots experience
12
¡  COOSS experience in Italy
¡  TER/NUIG experience in Ireland
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
7/4/15
Pilot experience: COOSS in Italy
13
¡  COOSS provides care services to a wide typology of elderly and
disabled people, either at home and within residential settings.
¡  It serves around 3000 elderly persons all over the regional area.
¡  Marche is one of the regions with the highest life expectancy in
Italy: it extends from the coast to the mountains.
¡  FATE appeared to be a promising device for elderly living alone
in mountainous areas, often in isolated villages where the
climate conditions make connections difficult and, if a fall
occurs, days can pass before someone discovers it.
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Pilot experience: Users’ recruitment
14
COOSS decided to involve two different groups in the FATE pilots:
¡  25 users living in the mountainous area (1st intervention group)
¡  25 users living in a bigger and well served town (2nd intervention
group)
Recruitment done according to the inclusion criteria
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Pilot experience: 1st group
15
Problems met:
¡  Very old users, without technological alphabetization (they had
problems even to handle a mobile phone)
¡  Resistance to participate, because afraid not to be able to
manage what, in their perception, was a very difficult system
¡  Technical barriers: mobile network coverage often missing
(which excluded a high number of potential users)
Out of a basin of about 300 potential users living in that
mountainous area, we succeeded in recruiting the 25 needed
for the trials with difficulty
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Pilot experience: 1st group
16
¡  Continuous monitoring, motivating, reassuring, assisting and
mediating was needed to guarantee the proper performance
of the trials, which was a very demanding task for the project
staff;
¡  A very limited number of falls was registered, because of:
•  Misuse of the system on the elderly part;
•  Extremely sedentary life, mainly indoor, which prevented occasions
for falls
¡  Drop outs mainly occurred for technical reasons and users’
discouragement because of them
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Pilot experience: 2nd group
17
¡  No recruitment problems
¡  Frequent falls, because of a more active style of life
¡  No big technical problems, because:
•  FATE improved
•  More used to mobiles and ICTs also because of intergenerational
exchanges
¡  Less assistance needed (weekly calls and monthly visits were
enough)
¡  Drop outs, when occurred, were due to health problems,
degeneration of their cognitive abilities and loss of memory,
which hindered a proper use of the FATE system
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Pilot experience: final considerations
18
¡  Positive feedback was received by family members and contact
persons, who said to feel safer knowing that their relative was
assisted by FATE;
¡  The collaboration of relatives in motivating elderly to use FATE
revealed crucial in the smooth performance of the trials.
¡  We received requests for information from different parts of Italy,
especially from children forced to leave their elderly relatives
alone and unattended for many hours a day;
¡  FATE has great potentialities, but it was hardly accepted by the
users who, in our case, would have mostly needed it (group 1).
Its technical improvement will hopefully overcome this problem
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Pilot Experience: NUIG/TER Ireland
19
Pilot Site
Average Age in Years
(Min-Max)
Gender (%)
Male / Female
Living Alone (%)
NUIG
77.3 (65.4 – 90.8)
38 / 62
62
Pilot Site
NUIG
Number of Users who experienced a
fall
Number of Fall events
Control / Intervention
2/3
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Control
Intervention
2 (11%)
3 (25%)
Pilot Experience: NUIG/TER Ireland
20
Pilot Site
NUIG
Number of Users
Control / Intervention
12 / 12
Number of Drop Outs
Control Group
Intervention Group
13 (52%)
13 (52%)
Key Factors Number of Drop Outs 1. Illness 4 2. Fear of Technology 7 3. Caused Illness 1 4.  Acceptance/Life stage 3 5. Disruptive/Intrusive 10 FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Feedback from Call Centre: TER
21
¡  Ireland (TER)
•  The operators felt the participants did not fully understand
how to use the system.
•  Forgetting the mobile phone was an issue and produced false
alarms.
•  They found carers were happy that their loved one was
involved in the trial.
•  The system comprises of a lot of separate equipment which
added complication and raising non emergency alerts e.g.
TOO MUCH TIME OUT OF BED.
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Feedback from Professionals/Participants
22
¡  Strengths:
¡  Improved quality of life.
¡  Gave participants and caregivers peace of mind.
¡  Encouraged participants to continue or recommence
participating in their Activities of Daily Living.
¡  Allowed participants greater freedom.
¡  Reduced stress and anxiety levels.
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Feedback from Professionals/Participants
23
¡  Weaknesses:
¡  Recruitment for the pilot was an issue.
¡  Training participants on how to correctly use the system was a
challenge.
¡  Forgetting the mobile phone was initially a concern.
¡  Dealing with drop outs and encouraging participation in the trial
was a challenge.
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Lessons learnt during the piloting experience
24
¡  FATE system, as a whole, is too complex and, probably, too
expensive.
¡  Some usability issues were detected after users’ comments and
feedback
•  Complicated to manage for elderly people (some of them not
used with Smartphones)
•  Fall detector too big.
•  Users don’t like lights in the device (stigmatization issue)
•  Problems with the physical panic button (main generator of false
alarms to the call centres)
•  Provided belt is too hot and the users don’t like actual aspect.
•  Manage of rechargeable battery could be complicated
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Lessons learnt …. (2)
25
¡  Additionally, the consortium was asked by the review panel
… To explore potential competitor products in the telecare and
telehealth markets (WP5 activities) on a global level and to benchmark
new products (based on desk research) with the FATE system.
§  A list of 31 comparable technologies was obtained. Among them, a
more reduced list of 10 was selected and were evaluated in relation to
the following parameters:
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
7/4/15
Lessons learnt …. (3)
26
¡  After analysis of data in the mentioned, it can be deduced:
¡  FATE system compares well with most of the solutions currently
available.
¡  In some cases, competitor offers advanced features (this is the
case of Philips LifeLine GoSafe)
¡  FATE system includes a bed sensor that permits monitoring during
sleep time, when sensor is not worn.
¡  Competitor products analysis has been complemented with an
analysis of related services in the different countries
These analyses together with the conclusions on
functioning test and acceptance of FATE solution, should
help to identify the features the sensor must present in
order to have competitive opportunities in the market.
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Lessons learnt …. The evolution
27
Main characteristics for an evolved product:
¡  Fall detection for occasional use. This situation corresponds to a person who is cared by a
relative but that sometimes, and usually for a short period of time (ranging from hours to a
couple of weeks), is unattended. No subscription or monthly fees are required.
¡  Simple and unobtrusive sensor. This implies that it should be light and small enough in order
to not be detected by external observers.
¡  Extremely simple user interface and maintenance. No buttons or switches and powered by
replaceable batteries, so that there is no need for a dedicated charger.
¡  The sensor should be managed by the user’s smartphone by means of a specific
application, so that there is no need for a dedicated one. The sensor communicates with
the smartphone by means of a Bluetooth wireless link.
¡  Inexpensive system. The target price for the fall sensor and the associated smartphone
application should fall below 100 €.
¡  The sensor should be purchased by means of standard consumer channels (pharmacy,
drugstore, smartphone accessories booth, directly from the company web page…)
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
A new product in the market
28
• 
The Fall Detector is a unique personal device
based on a tri-axial accelerometer and a
specific algorithm.
• 
These features are complemented by a
telecommunications layer involving Bluetooth
technology, able to send alarms when falls
occur. Standard AAA batteries power the
system, with a 3 months life.
• 
Highly discreet, it can be worn in a customized
or on a normal daily belt
• 
No buttons needed. All user/device interactions
are executed through a clever and simple APP
for Android smartphones.
4,5cm
¡  Commercialization done by SENSE4CARE (Spin-off company
from UPC)
6,5cm
A new product in the market
29
The role of the mobile phone is to carry out automatically the communication
with the emergency services in the case a fall occurs and also to provide
geolocation when the user is outdoors.
How it works
user falls
automatic detection
automatic APP response
assistance
Fall Detector
FALL DETECTED!
AUTOMATIC
CALL
Medical Center
CANCEL
Relatives
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
A new product in the market
30
Fall Detector
More than
2 months of
autonomy
Wear it &
turn on in
just one
click
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/
Coverage
in-house
and
outdoors
Affordable:
Get one for
less than
100 euros
FATE: final conclusions.
31
¡  Good experience
¡  Technology (Fall detector) tested and validated (final results and
statistics are still pending): no false negatives.
¡  Interaction with call centers positive: opens the door to a further
and deep consideration
•  How protocols must be adapted
•  How to treat and filter possible false positive
¡  Evolution to a product for the market (next April/May 2015)
FATE| CIP-Pilot actions 297178 | http://www.project-fate.eu/