Smart Grids and Their Role in Transforming Human Activities—A Systematic Literature Review

• Main Authors: Ángeles Verdejo-Espinosa, Macarena Espinilla-Estévez, Francisco Mata
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-10-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: smart grids; sensors; human activity recognition; internet of things; literature review
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/20/8662

In this work, a systematic review of the literature has been carried out to analyse the design of intelligent networks in environments inhabited by people and the applications of sensors to improve quality of life and aid human activities. This study aims to answer three research questions. The first question is whether the design of smart grids is made with people in mind. The second question focuses on whether intelligent networks are being taken account of in the research on human activity recognition, the Internet of Things, and the recognition of activities of daily living. The third question looks at whether there are synergies and multidisciplinary teams studying state-of-the-art technologies applied to environments inhabited by elderly or disabled people. Installations with sensors deployed for the improvement of the quality of human life will also help to improve the quality of the intelligent network, thus integrating the Human–Technology binomial. This study concludes with an analysis of the results of the sources examined, putting forward a protocol of seven proposals to guide future work.