ACTIVITY SIMULATION IN UNITY FOR OLDER ADULTS IN SMART HOMES

Abstract

The increased desire to age in place among older adults has led to a growing interest in smart home technologies. Within these smart homes, independent living is supported while maintaining the safety of older adults with timely interventions. This thesis presents the design and implementation of a 3D simulation created in Unity to visualize daily activities within a smart home environment. The simulation models different sensors to simulate a virtual resident interacting within a scanned apartment layout. The data to simulate these activities is obtained from actual sensors previously set up in the living space of an older adult. Along with taking in data, the simulation allows for the creation of scenarios to generate potential behavioral patterns that can be represented in sensor data. This work demonstrates how 3D simulations can close the gap between raw sensor data to an intuitive visualization to further enhance eldercare.