Maintaining multiple sclerosis patients' quality of life: a case study on environment control assistance in a smart home

Abstract

This paper presents a case study on how smart-home technology can improve the quality of life for multiple sclerosis patients by implementing personalized environment control assistance. We developed a prototype that allows users with diminished motoric skills to use voice recognition software on a smartphone to control a house's front door, lights, telephone, TV and PC. We focused on affordable hardware and open-source software to maximize adaptability and extensibility, which is required for individual solutions. The development followed a user-centric design process, where a group of 10 multiple sclerosis patients participated in workshops to assess their requirements and evaluate the usability of the implemented prototype.