Photos by Sharon Taylor Conway The prototype Blueroof Independence Module is a home addition that uses Internet communication to operate household appliances and satellite communication to provide medical services. Below, Casey Conover of Best Bath Systems demonstrates the self-propelled overhead lift, which enables individuals to move from bed to bath completely independently.

Now imagine a whole town of driverless cars, robotic wheelchairs and talking houses. Sound like something from the future? Well, the future is today, according to researchers showcasing the next generation of Quality of Life Technology at the State of the Science Workshop at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), Jan. 18.

Civilians, veterans, healthcare providers and others attended the first State of the Science Workshop featuring quality of life technology. Lt. Col. Paul F. Pasquina, chief of the integrated department of orthopedics and rehabilitation medicine for WRAMC and National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md., served as one of three course directors for the event.

Workshop attendees took their first look at the Blueroof Independence Module (BIM), a home-addition proto-type that integrates smart-living with telemedicine. The 14-by-28-foot module contains built-in safety and security features along with assistive devices.

John Bertoty, executive director for Blueroof Technologies in McKeesport, Pa. said the BIM will enable severely wounded veterans to return to their homes and loved ones during lengthy recuperation and receive therapy in their homes

The unit is attached to an existing house, providing recently injured veterans fully independent operation without spatial constrictions in a safe, home environment.

The unit looks quite like any other bedroom, living room or bathroom found in an average home, but these rooms are not ordinary rooms. Hidden sensors beneath the carpet and floors can alert family or a monitoring service if the occupant has fallen.

A ceiling track runs the length of the house for the Cirrus self-propelled overhead lift. This system allows for the entire unit to remain out of the way when not in use.

Tracking for a self-propelling lift system suspended from the ceiling runs the length of the house permits individuals with upper extremity mobility to move from bed to bath independently. The system allows the entire unit to remain out of the way when not in use.

The smart house has a voice that reminds individuals with memory problems to take their medicine. A fluorescent-lit container indicates which pill to take and the system records whether the they take it. A flat panel screen in the center of the unit provides internet access, cable television. It also serves as a satellite-linked video conference tool for health professionals at Saint Francis Universityís Center of Excellence for Remote and Medically Under-Served Areas John P. Murtha Telehealth Research Center in Loretto, Pa., which conducts routine medical tests from hundreds of miles away.

Bertoty said the company plans to build an integrated community of smart technology 12 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The 10-acre McKeesport Independence Zone will have an outdoor wireless mesh linking the area of smart-houses, including a grocery store and a church.

ìYouíll be able to monitor anybody inside or outside anywhere in the zone. If somebodyís in a powered autonomic wheelchair, itíll be able to tell where you want to go. If you want to go to the grocery store, itíll take you there. If you come to a traffic light, the traffic light wonít change until the wheelchair is all the way across the street,î Bertoty said.

The BIM technology comes from a consortium involving Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh). Researchers from the two universities presented a poster session illustrating application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics and participatory action design to create the next generation of quality of life technology.

Professor Takeo Kanade of CMU, noted for his pioneering research in computer vision technology, artificial intelligence and robotics, explained, ìThe role of technology in presenting, restoring and enhancing quality of life is clearer.î He said that more [government] agencies are now involved in quality of life technology and that, ìcollaboration across disciplines is imperative.î Kanade said the same ingenuity used for military, space, and manufacturing applications should be applied to improve the human condition.

Researchers at CMU under Kanadeís direction won the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge with a robotic, driverless Chevy Tahoe that completed a 60-mile (100 km) course with intersections and buildings. Contestants had to park and merge with traffic. Kanade told the Stripe that driver-less vehicle technology may be ready for everyday use within the next five to 10 years but it may be longer before these cars are seen on the road because it takes time for society to accept anything new that involves safety.

And safety is paramount, according to Professor Chris Atkinson of CMU. Personal mobility and manipulation technology must be safe, offer the user autonomy and innate trust, he said.

Pittsburgh distinguished professor Rory Cooper, an internationally-recognized expert on wheelchair design and accomplished wheelchair athlete, said research is guided by both personal and societal needs. Assisted technology research is developing wheelchairs with robotic arms that allow the user to open a bottle and drink from it, eat a sandwich, turn off the lights or open doors.

And assisted technology is expensive.

ìFifty-one percent or more of assisted technology is paid for out of pocket,î said Katherine Seelman of the University of Pittsburgh. According to the World Health Organization, over 600 million people in the world live with a physical or mental disability. ìFinancing is a hurdle for this area.î

Bertoty said it was hard to estimate the actual cost of the Blueroof Independence Module, but stated that the company would like to be able to build the modules for a cost of about $50,000 or less. ìIf we were to do a hundred of these, the cost would go down,î said Bertoty.