In a recent news article, Kingston University announced a collaboration with home care provider Salutem to develop technology to improve care for people with autism and learning difficulties. The project has received a budget of £220,000, financed by the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) and Salutem Care. In the project, experts from the Kingston University’s School of Computer Science and Mathematics will work with Salutem to design and develop a sophisticated sensor system that will notify caregivers when support is needed.

As the article explains, the system uses wearable technology to monitor physiological data, such as blood pressure, temperature and other stress responses. The project is one of co-design: it will be designed with end users so that it can be tailored to personal needs. Sensors are, for example, unobtrusively placed in a watch or clothing for continuous health monitoring.

Dr. Nada Philip, who will lead the project, has emphasised the two-fold value of the sensor system: “The new sensor system will lead to significant improvements by helping carers take action as soon as possible to prevent or limit the effects of stressful or medical episodes. At the same time, the data will be easily stored and accessible to support carers in focusing more of their time on looking after people.” For more information, please have a look at the article!