A virtual assistant for promoting independent recovery and wellness

衰老通常与肌肉质量和功能的丧失有关，导致独立性降低和受伤风险增加（例如福尔斯）。神经系统疾病和身体伤害使这个问题变得更糟。老年人的康复通常需要与理疗师直接接触，但由于国家卫生服务体系的预算限制，这种治疗时间每天最多为45分钟。此外，这种康复体力活动是在一个不代表病人出院时的环境（健身房或病房）中进行的。在这个项目中，学生将创建一个平台，允许（半）独立康复，并促进老年人积极的生活方式。这样的平台将由低成本硬件（RGB和潜在的深度相机）和软件组成，该软件可以跟踪相机视场中受试者的运动，检查活动是否遵循临床指南并评估运动质量。该技术的设计将使其可以很容易地安装和使用在医院房间，个人住宅和护理之家。通过这种方式，相同的系统将在患者的所有康复过程中进行跟踪，甚至在康复后用于保持积极的生活方式。在项目结束时，还将探索游戏化方法，以激发动力。参与博士培训网络的临床医生和治疗师提供的临床输入，以及NHS指南将明确嵌入平台，以确保练习适合特定受试者（或受试者人群）并将风险降至最低。

Ageing is often associate with loss of muscle mass and function, leading to decreased independence and increased risk of injury (e.g. falls). Neurological conditions and physical injuries make this problem even worse. Very often rehabilitation of older people requires direct contact with a physiotherapist, but NHS budget constraints limit such sessions to at most 45minutes/day. Moreover, such rehabilitation physical activity is performed in a setting (gym or hospital room) that does not represent the environment the patient will operate in when discharged.In this project the student will create a platform to allow (semi-)independent rehabilitation and promote active lifestyles in older people. Such a platform will consist of low-cost hardware (RGB and potentially depth cameras) and software that can track the movement of the subject in the camera field of view, check that the activity is done following clinical guidelines and assess the quality of movement. The technology will be designed so that it can easily be installed and used in hospital rooms, personal homes and care homes. In this way, the same system will follow the patient for all his/her rehabilitation journey and even be used once recovered to maintain an active lifestyle. Gamification approaches will also be explored toward the end of the project to stimulate motivation.Clinical input provided by clinicians and therapists involved in the Doctoral Training Network, and NHS guidelines will be explicitly embedded in the platform to ensure that the exercises are appropriate for a given subject (or population of subjects) and minimise risks.