8.3.1 Home Automation

One of the home automation techniques [6] includes automatic light controlling systems. They work on the mechanism of turning on and off the light with a remote control or apps on smartphones. Few controlling systems work on motion-based recognition [7] where, depending upon the motion of the person, if he is not available the lights turn off and turn on when the person is available. This automation technique majorly is helpful for people with disabilities in movement and cannot reach the switches.

Another important home automation system is an automated home security and safety. Cognitive intelligence is a major challenge for elderly people. Automated doors and locks are very useful so that they do not fear missing locking of doors. When someone is outside the doors, these automatic locking systems which are available help the people with disability to unlock the doors with a single touch on the app on their smartphone.

8.3.2 Smart Appliances

Different from home automation which consists of lights, fans, sensors, and automated smart appliances are the appliances that we use in our day-to-day lives and are connected to the smart phones via a Bluetooth. Generally, elderly people tend to forget turning off devices such as toasters, stoves, and oven, which may be very dangerous. Automation of these appliances [8] will help them and make the task easier just with a click of a button. Apart from home appliances we have wearable devices like text readers, braille watches, and hearing aids for differently abled people.

8.3.3 Healthcare

Healthcare plays a vital role for any individual. Extra care is needed, particularly concerning the healthcare of elderly people. There are many healthcare devices like medicine dispenses and remainder systems for the medicines that are to be taken regularly. These medicine dispensers will help to have appropriate doses for them. The remainder systems help in maintaining a schedule and popping a remainder based on the schedules to avoid missing meetings and schedules.

Now, let us have a detailed look at the smart IoT devices for elderly and differently abled people.

8.4.1 Automatic Lights Control

The automatic lights controlling systems come with inbuilt sensors in it. An automatic light control device turns on when it detects an object. When the person enters the location, the sensor detects the motion of the object and puts on the light. There is a time limit that to be set to the sensors when to put off when no object is detected. Based on the time set, the light automatically puts off when there is no object identified in its location. There are advanced sensors that can check for a certain range of distance and when no object is identified it turns off. This technology is mainly helpful for people who have movement disabilities and cannot reach the switches.

8.4.2 Automated Home Safety and Security

Home security is always challenging when the elderly and differently abled people who lead a single life. There are many home security devices where the mobile applications have the option to unlock the doors based on the control given by the user. Any person sitting inside the home can unlock the doors of his home without moving. In this automation technique, the home is installed with a device that displays the image of the person who has arrived. The app installed in the smartphone of the user can unlock the door or speak to the person outside the door with the help of the mobile device. These kinds of devices are mainly helpful for people with mobility challenges.

Another automatic locking system for elders is the smart lock mechanism which works on thumb impressions and also smartphone unlock. These devices make their task easier to avoid using keys and slipping the keys from their hands. When the user wants to lock the door, he can do it with the help of a smartphone, and when he wants to unlock it, he can use the fingerprint scanner.

8.5.1 Smart Oven

A smart oven is a home appliance that integrates with a smart home network through Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The app should be installed on our smartphone to get connected to a smart oven [9]. It allows users to control the oven remotely or to set automatic functions. The smart oven has different functions from preheating, adjusting the cooking temperatures, etc. This smart oven also sends alerts when the oven is preheated properly, when the timer expires, or if there is a problem with the oven.

8.5.2 Smart Assistant

Engaging a caretaker or an assistant to an elderly and disabled people to help in their daily activities is a difficult task. Finding and affording them is not much easy. An IoT offers them with a completely smart device called a smart assistant (virtual assistant). It gets connected to a Wi-Fi network to operate. It takes voice commands as input and internally designed with a speaker to give the audio as a reply. It performs numerous tasks and services that include the answering of queries like what is the date today, temperature right now, history of diseases, and playing of songs from movies by searching on the internet. It can be operated from the place where we are sitting without any difficulty.

8.5.3 Smart Washers and Dryers

The elderly and people with some disabilities cannot roam many times in their homes for their daily activities. Washing or laundry is one of them. To make it simpler, smart washers and dryers [10] are an IoT device connected to the internet that can operate from the place of sitting. An intended app should be maintained in a smartphone to give operative commands like the type of fabric, time as well as to get notifications like number of cycles to finish, time left, water sufficiency, and power problems if any from it.

8.5.4 Smart Coffee Machines

Fifty percent of the population drinks coffee at least once in a day to get rid of tiredness. The majority of the elderly and some disabled persons are not able to make themselves by standing or sitting 5–10 minutes continuously. For such people, IoT helps with a smart coffee machine [11] that is connected to the internet can operate from their smartphone by installing its intended app from the place of sitting to give instructions like turns on/off, milk, and number of spoons of coffee powder and sugar. It notifies the user when it is ready or when it requires assistance.

8.5.5 Smart Refrigerator

A refrigerator is used to store daily essentials like milk, eggs, bread, fruits, vegetables, and many more. It cannot detect when the items stored in it are spoiled or expired. The elderly and some disabled people cannot go through it daily. A smart refrigerator [12] is an IoT-programmed device. It can able to recognize and manage items stored inside it and keep track of important details such as usage and expiry. These refrigerators work on a RFID or barcode system to collect the batch and manufacture detail directly from the internet.

8.6.1 Smart Watches

Smart watches are digital watches with enhanced features that display the heart rate, steps count, number of miles of walk, remainders systems, answering the calls when the mobile is away from the person, etc.

8.6.2 Smart Thermometer

A smart thermometer is a wearable device with Bluetooth connection to smartphones, which has improved features to the traditional medical thermometer. This smart thermometer [14] is worn to the hand which keeps track of the body temperatures every 16 seconds in real time and sends an alert. It also keeps track of the time when a medicine is taken and also prompts alerts when the next dosage of medicine is to be taken. The merits of this thermometer are that there is no discomfort and it can be readable at any time and self-measurable.

8.6.3 Smart Blood Pressure Monitor

Monitoring the blood pressure in elderly people is a very important task, to maintain proper health conditions. In the olden days, whenever the people need to check the blood pressure, they always used to rush to a doctor. But now, with the emerging technologies, everything is at the click of the button.

Smart blood pressure monitor system [14] is a digital device which displays the graph of the heartbeat. It calculates the systolic and diastolic blood pressures. As it is a known fact that the healthy blood pressure ranges from 90/80 to 120/80 mmHg, any change from the normal blood pressure will be displayed on the device screen and prompted to the user.

8.6.4 Smart Glucose Monitors

A smart glucose monitor is a very helpful device for diabetic patients to identify their blood sugar level and take appropriate injections. The device is equipped with a test strip bottle. These strips are used to detect blood sugar levels. To perform the test, we need to insert test strip and prick your finger and place the test strip into the blood. This glucose monitor device [14] can be connected to the smartphone similar to that of an OTG device. Once the test is performed, the results are displayed on the screen as well as on the smart phone.

8.6.5 Smart Insulin Pump

Approximately 422 million people have diabetes worldwide. They need insulin all day. To take insulin easily, an IoT-based device called insulin pump can operate through a smartphone with its intended app using the internet to specify instructions and to get notifications.

Insulin pumps are small, computerized devices used to deliver small doses and variable doses of insulin before and after the meal. Insulin pumps release insulin almost the way our body naturally does.

The insulin pump is about the size of a smartphone and attaches it to your body using an infusion set: thin plastic tubing and either a small tapered tube called a cannula or a needle put under the skin is called infusion site. This can be placed on the buttock, thigh, or belly. Insulin pumps [14] use rapid acting and short acting insulin, but not long acting since the pump is programmed to deliver a small amount of insulin continuously to keep blood sugar levels even.

8.6.6 Smart Wearable Asthma Monitor

An automated device for asthma monitoring [14] is a wearable patch type device that helps to detect respiration patterns, tracking cough rate, temperature, heartbeat, and other asthma symptoms. It comes with a rechargeable battery and can be worn anywhere in the upper torso, back, or front. It has a voice journaling feature. For this, just press the wearable and it can start recording relevant journal entries such as behavior, feelings, or any changes needed to notice and to record. All this data gets transferred to your smartphone for long term records and doctor’s review.

Performing the daily chores for the differently abled people is always a challenging task. There are different people like visually impaired, deaf, and movement disabilities. There are different IoT devices developed and manufactured which are helpful to them in many ways. Now, we shall see the smart IoT devices for differently abled.

8.6.7 Assisted Vision Smart Glasses

People with disabilities in vision require help from others to always carry out tasks. Partially sighted have the ability to detect light and motion. Smart glasses are useful for people with partial vision difficulties and help them to find what they want independently and avoid obstacles. This was developed by the researchers of Oxford University; smart glasses [16] use object detection and help the visually challenged to navigate on their own. Smart glasses are a pair of glasses which collects visual information using sensors and relays it back to the wearer using OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) screens and headphones.

8.6.8 Finger Reader

This is a wearable device designed by the researchers at MIT’s Media Lab, which is helpful for visually impaired to read the text. This device needs to be worn on the index finger which is embedded with a camera. This camera on the top of the device scans the text with the moments of the finger and reads the text aloud. This finger reader is very advantageous because the visually impaired people can read the normal text also apart from the braille. A vibration motor present prompts an alert when the reader moves away from the script.

8.6.9 Braille Smart Watch

This is a wearable device similar to that of a smart watch but useful for visually challenged people. This type of watch is first developed by DOT. This braille smart watch monitor features like heart rate and footsteps. All the features of a smart watch are imbibed in this braille watch. It works on the wireless Bluetooth technology to connect the smartphones. It is a very fashionable device with comfort.

8.6.10 Smart Wand

The smart wand is an improvised version of a traditional stick that is used by visually impaired people. This works on smart sensor technology. It is a handheld device that was created by Jin-Woo Han. This wand comprises a sensor strip that tells about how far is the person from an object and helps in moving them forward without any obstacles [15].

8.6.11 Taptilo Braille Device

Taptilo Braille device is a wireless device that syncs to a smartphone using the internet with the use of the intended application to teach and learn Braille reading and writing.

8.6.12 Smart Hearing Aid

Smart hearing aids are the most popular and effective treatment option for hearing loss. The aim of smart hearing aids is to make the hearing restoration process feel as natural as possible by removing wires and other physical connectivity. The automatic functionality in smart hearing aids allows users to interact with their environment naturally while the device’s functionality enhances sound by reducing noise. Smart hearing aids use Bluetooth technology to connect wirelessly to smartphones, doorbells, smoke alarms, and more.

8.6.13 E-Alarm

E-alarm is a small electronic hand-held device with the functionality to expend a loud siren like alarming sound. It gets activated either by pressing a button or when pulled. The E-alarm siren will sound continuously for 30 minutes or unless the pin is returned to the device. It is used to attract attention to scare off an aggressor.

8.6.14 Spoon Feeding Robot

The elderly and people with some disabilities cannot do their work by themselves. They need some caregiving people to feed their food. There is a spoon-feeding robot to make you live independently by feeding food. A grab arm picks up the desired food in a food container, and it releases the food on the spoon of a spoon arm. The spoon arm keeps the spoon to the user’s mouth. Then, the user can eat the food on the spoon.

8.6.15 Automated Wheel Chair

An automated wheel chair is mechanically controlled device that works with user command. This chair provides an opportunity for people with mobility challenges to move from one place to another. The automated wheelchair is also provided with an obstacle detection system which reduces the chance of clash while on the journey.

There is a lot of advancement in the field of IoT in the last 2–3 years. The IoT-enabled devices are making the differently abled and elderly people’s lives easier. Smart vehicles are one of the greatest achievements in the field of IoT-based devices. An intelligent car with voice assistance and obstacle detector to aid the disabled [17] is a smart vehicle that is developed to move as well as to detect the obstacles and stop the movement of the vehicle. This works with the help of Google Voice–based search and Amazon’s speech services. This smart vehicle is mainly useful for people who are physically challenged.

Physically disabled people always need the support of others in every walks of life. Sometimes, leaving them unattended may even cost their lives. It is particularly with people using wheelchairs and other support devices to keep them in movements. Authors in [18] demonstrated a smart device automatic pose detection to avoid dangerous situations, which prompts an emergency bell based on the posture of the individual. The machine learning algorithm used in this will identify the posture, and if there is any change in the posture, it will prompt the user to avoid accidents.

A smart glove for the visually impaired helps in identifying the obstacles in their path. The motor in the glove starts vibrating if it encounters an obstacle in the way. Authors in [19] described the architecture which is low cost and effective glove for the visually impaired. Nikola Kristic, who is a graduate from Belgrade, developed a prototype for a smart glove that not only vibrates and occurrence of an obstacle but also performs several other functions. The name of the smart glove is ANORA which performs that tasks like spatial orientation, identifying the currency, detection of lights in the room, color recognition, and panic buttons which sends the message when the user is lost in his direction [20]. This panic buttons send messages to the dear ones the location of the user where he is situated. This is one of the advances which help the visually impaired people to perform several other tasks.

There are situations where elderly people need to stay alone, and it is challenging for them to keep track of their daily activities because of their cognitive abilities. Researchers have been working in different areas where there could be a better monitoring system for elderly people. One among them is the ICE, i.e., IoT cares for elders which work on the Intel Edison platform [21]. This checks and prompts and alarm on finding any abnormalities in the functioning of the elderly people. All the data is stored in the cloud so that the family can track the health conditions of the individual.

The authors in [22] made use of a smartphone and a wearable smart watch to find and prompt an alert message to the family when the Alzheimer’s patient is lost and is unaware of his location. Authors in [23] developed sensors that measure blood pressure, heartbeat, and body temperature on a mesh network while [24] developed a mobile application which with the help of activities performed predicts the health condition of the elderly person and also prompts the necessary actions that need to be taken.

Home automation is been very well advanced and is been used in everyone’s daily routine and in particular for the elderly and people with disabilities. The automation of home has been extended to all areas and appliances in the entire home right from controlling the lights to the temperature sensors, gas emission detection system, etc. This automation system [25] uses transceivers and RF wireless communication between the user and the control board.

There are wide varieties of IoT devices that are being manufactured the home automation systems for the elderly and people who are living alone. Some of the companies that help in home automation are Legrand home automation, Philips, Leviton, Elk, Qolsys, etc. Most of the devices are accompanied by Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Homekit. Another technology that makes the lives of the differently abled easier is the usage of RFIDs (Radio Frequency Identifications). RFID has the tags and sensors through which wireless communication can be established and measure the data. This is much useful to visually impaired people for purchasing things from a Walmart or identifying the location they are present [26].