SmartLife

The number of elderly people in the UK is rising, and so too is their willingness to embrace technology. We can take advantage of this by providing a mobile application that aids their daily lives.

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Inspiration

The elderly face a variety of issues as they age: boredom, loneliness, physical health decline to name a few. Apps exist already to combat this, but there’s no consistency between products and to make use of many features you have to download many associated apps. We want to create an application that assists them in multiple ways, with a one stop shop style homepage to make the process as simple as possible. We know that technology is not as easy for older people, so we follow scientifically researched design principles to provide the most accessible, useful product possible.

What it does

SmartLife has a quick, well-explained set up, with minimal input required. Every button has both an icon and text descriptor. The homepage is organised into 6 main categories: medication, brain training, home workouts, schedule, tech tips and local events. Users can organise their medication, set reminds and check in that they have taken it. They can work on their memory or combat boredom by playing a variety of brain training games. Home workouts are tailored to the user by setting their fitness level and any physical conditions. Tech tips aim to build confidence and encourage independence by providing simple tutorials for common technical goals. Local events encourages socialising and combats loneliness with a simple postcode input. An accessible calendar and scheduler allows routines to be formed and the user can retain their independence.

How we built it

Using the Ionic framework with Angular we created a reactive cross-platform application. Figma allowed us to create detailed interactive prototypes .

Minimum Viable Product

We will avoid using pop-up or forced-scroll advertising, as this is often confusing to the elderly. However, in order to be a viable product, we need to monetise, this can be done by creating a Marketplace where we advertise assistive products aimed at the elderly, with an affiliate link that we profit from. We hope to have sponsored partnerships, whether that be with care homes or Government funding. If we expand to include pervasive computing, we could also benefit from the sale of affiliate smart devices.

What's next for SmartLife

We hope to fully implement all of our features as soon as possible. Beyond this, we will add the marketplace in order to monetise. Our most exciting further extensions is the possibility to add smart home integrations. We hope to include smart plugs, smart hubs and more unique products such as a smart pill bottle cap, all linked to the application and providing reminders and routine building.

Challenges we ran into

Ionic was a new challenge for us, we wanted to develop a mobile application that was cross-platform and that seemed like a viable option. The initial set up and the learning curve was steep and it wasted a lot of valuable time.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Every design decision we made was done considering accessibility and inclusive recommendations. Our product should be useful and will address the issues affecting the quality of life of the elderly.

What we learned

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