'Magic Carpet' Can't Fly, But Knows That You've Fallen - University of Manchester

Grandparents accidentally falling and suffering from injured knees is a common in households. Such accidents can happen anywhere be it a slippery floor or a silk carpet. In order to preventing the 65+ year olds from getting frequently admitted in hospitals, a team of researchers from three academic Schools and the Photon Science Institute at The University of Manchester have presented their work on a technology at the Photon 12 conference today. What they've come up with is a Magic Carpet or better called a Smart Carpet that can immediately tell if someone has fallen while walking over it. This carpet can be set up in care homes or hospital wards or even people’s homes and has the ability to map changes and make improvements in a person’s gait.

Composed of plastic optical fibres and sensors, the carpet track a person's walking pattern in real time and transfer the data to a computer that analyzes the data to generate images that portray gradual changes in walking behavior or a sudden incident such as a fall or trip.

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The applications of this technology are really versatile. Such carpets that incorporate a novel use of the imaging technology can be used to detect the presence of chemical spillages or fire as an early-warning system. The tomographic technique used in hospital scanners is used here to map 2D images from the light propagating under the surface of the smart carpet. Developed to fit in any kind of living room or hospital walls, this carpet pushes way for gathering a wide range of information about a person’s condition; from biomechanical to chemical sensing of body fluids, enabling holistic sensing to provide an environment that detects and responds to changes in patient condition. We look forward to interesting and useful applications of this tech in the days to come.

Via: #-Link-Snipped-# | Image Credits: The Magic Carpet, Victor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov