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，导致独立性下降和受伤风险增加（例如跌倒）。神经系统疾病和身体损伤使这个问题更加严重。老年人的康复通常需要与物理治疗师直接接触，但NHS预算限制了这种会话最多45分钟/天。此外，这种康复体力活动是在一个环境（健身房或病房）中进行的，并不代表患者出院时将在其中进行手术的环境。在这个项目中，学生将创建一个允许（半）独立康复的平台，并促进老年人积极的生活方式。这样一个平台将由低成本的硬件（RGB和潜在的深度相机）和软件组成，可以跟踪相机视野内受试者的运动，检查活动是否按照临床指导方针进行，并评估运动质量。这项技术将被设计成可以很容易地安装和使用在医院房间、个人家庭和养老院。通过这种方式，同样的系统将跟随患者的整个康复过程，甚至在康复后用于保持积极的生活方式。游戏化方法也将在项目结束时探索，以激发动机。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指南将明确嵌入该平台，以确保练习适合特定受试者（或受试者群体），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.