Design and Implementation of a Distant Gymnastic System for the Elderly

• Main Authors: Peng Yu-Chieh, 彭禹傑
• Other Authors: Jiang Wey-Wen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/83265364860514377590

碩士 === 國立臺北護理健康大學 === 資訊管理研究所 === 99 === The need for long-term care for the elderly rises as our country becomes an aging society. Recreational sport not only improves the self-esteem of the elderly, it also provides an outlet for their emotions, increases their fitness levels, and slows the rate of degeneration in their bodily functions. Therefore, it is vital to provide a regimen of regular exercise to the elderly who are under long-term care. The goal of this study was to build a distant gymnastic system that allows the elderly to achieve the effects of exercising in the comfort of their own homes. Using just a personal computer connected to the Internet and equipped with a webcam, the elderly interacts with the computer to engage in health exercise. The scoring mechanism of our online health exercise system was based on motion detection and motion tracking algorithms implemented in Adobe Flash. We field-tested our system with elderly subjects at the Beitou Recreation Center and conducted assessment surveys. We know from the test results that in addition to the motion design being satisfactory, more than half of the subjects believe our health exercise system helps them exercise all body parts and reaffirms their beliefs that computers are interesting and functional. It shows the feasibility of the developed system.