Health&Sportlab, a spin-out of Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (BarcelonaTech) and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), is working on a smartphone app that will let the elderly monitor their health status.
Led by Miguel Àngel García, lecturer at BarcelonaTech’s Department of Electronic Engineering, the team has figured out how to use mobile phones to measure physiological data such as physical activity and heart rate variability. García said the team’s first goal was to “achieve a basic objective: to validate algorithms that can measure physiological and psychological variables obtained non-intrusively via mobile phones and through cognitive tests or questionnaires on eating habits.”
The app will measure a user’s heart rate variability by using the phone’s camera and flash. The software will also make use of in-built accelerometres, which track a phone’s movement, and GPS sensors to analyse physical movement.
The app’s algorithms will be able to analyse the data in real time and generate a physiological, cognitive and emotional profile. The team is hoping to have a finished app targeted at people over 60 within two years.
The final app will also give users the opportunity to receive confidential advice from experts. The spin-out’s ultimate goal is to promote a healthy diet, physical activity and social interaction, three crucial factors in healthy ageing.
