A Study on the Behavioral Characteristics of the Elderly Living in a Smart Home

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate behavioral of the elderly living in smart home using the diary study method and to analyze the characteristic required according to behavior and smart home service. For the research of the characteristics of service-use, the seven types of main smart home services were chosen by analyzing previous research. We carried out a diary study with ten elderly people over the age of 65 in smart home environment. They recorded their every behavior for one week by themselves. Diary study items consist of four parts: 1) time, 2) activity, 3) device, 4) place. The result of this study, findings of behavioral characteristics of the elderly reveal that most of them spend their time on personal care, socializing and leisure activities. While elderly generally did not fully utilize smart home functions, there was high usage frequency and preference for automatic intelligence service compared to manual. Therefore, smart home services related to these characteristics should be considered as a top priority.

Keywords: Diaries, User Behavior Pattern, Home-Based Automated System, Smart Home, Elderly

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe100586