I tried to contact NVIDIA direct however just couldn’t get through, PLEASE all read carefully if you can help in any way shape or form please do, Please no Jokers, I’m a Nurse with a very strange scene of humor !!!
Problem:
Residents not being able to see their family members due to COVID restrictions.
• Currently staff and residents using Skype, Facetime, WhatsApp on iPads or staff’s own mobile phones to communicate with family members.
• Residents not use to iPads or Tablets etc. and may struggle with understanding what is happening, only Tech they may know or recognise being TV’s and some possibly with some early computer experience. Further to this the residents health needs in ability to operate such equipment.
• Staff time, staying with resident to used equipment and to explain what to do when potentially they have other obligations to address.
• Staff’s ability to use effectively NEW TECHNOLOGY items or have the will or inclination to assist residents due to lack of technical know how in operating equipment combined with potential workload and care pressure needs of other residents in a potentially highly stressful environment.
• ?/ Removing isolation and loneliness of the resident.
• Maintaining residents self-worth and well being
• Maintaining and PROTECTING residents Dignity & Respect at all times.
• Protecting residents from SAFEGUARDING incidents (Security).
GOAL:
Promoting Self-worth, Empowerment, Inclusion, Socialisation and ability to communicate with loved ones or even other Healthcare professional via Secure Remote Access (SRA), affordable*, simple to use*, Single Board Computer (SBC) with Artificial Intelligence ability (AI) provision of an Operating System (OS*) (to operate Voice Commands (VC*), Facial Recognition (FR*) Body Blanking (BB*) Alert Recognition (AR*) Gesture Recognition (GR*), Media Current Affairs + Films (MCAF*), Voice To Text (VTT*)) via HDMI cable to a TV set in a residents room.
SRA; Currently most Residential & Nursing Homes have wifi abilities throughout the site’s, enabling use of a SBC with wifi access. Consideration needs to be taken into account for the following; site cyber security, Resident security (protecting residents dignity and respect at all times), Bandwidth of wifi service provided on the site, Family Member access ?via a secure portal ?appointment method ?cloud based service/server. While residents would have ability to call family members at any reasonable time? Family member receiving method via PC ?pad or app.
Affordable; Currently Care facilities have massive expenditure on PPE and employee wages along with facility upgrades, and so any device must be economical in price, effective and efficient in ability to preform required tasks.
Simple to Use; The device must be simple to use almost plug and play in method of operation, with the ability to recognise residents (FR) and so know correct contact details for that residents family members. Where possible recognise residents voice to operate the system (VC), alternative recognise staff voice for command input and command output.
SBC; Requirements of having the processing power to complete required tasks, ability for deep learning perammitors (AI) in regards to lifestyle and communication, efficient in operation, longevity in hardware support.
OS; (The Big One!!!) Simple to use GUI with plug and play characteristics, ability for simple input of commands on setup including Voice Recognition and Facial recognition (VC & FR) and text database to link resident to family member contacts. Ability to complete simple tasks via Voice or Gesture e.g. “Call Daughter or Call Son” enabling video stream with family member at the residents request. ?Facial recognition to be used as partial security of information, however also to be used to protect residents dignity and respect by performing, a body blanking operation whereby only a residents face can be seen if a resident was in a state of undress (ability to recognise clothes in situ on a person) with the remainder of the image BLOCKED or heavily incripted so residents Dignity and Respect is maintained at all times. Alert Recognition (AR) along with Facial Positioning/Recognition (positioning of residents head either upright (sat up in a chair) or horizontal (resident in bed) when not in operation in video streaming or other tasks, has the ability to send an alert when resident stands up independently and is known to have a high falls risk sends an alert to the care assistant who last assisted the resident to alert them to the fact that the resident is now at risk!
Currently there is a great emphasis on electronic care documentation of the resident by the care staff by providers such as MCM Person Centered Software (PCS) whereby the staff working with the residents carry a mobile device to complete care provision documentation as they assist a resident. For an alert to be generated and sent directly to the staff member alerting them to the high risk situation of the resident. This could also be developed further to also alert to continence needs of a resident by way of humidity sensors (Further future development). Media Current Affairs and Films, for the OS via VC or GC to give the resident opportunity to watch over the internet, News, Films and Documentaries of their choice.
I have completed 80% of the individual systems test independently with success using Raspberry Pi 4 4GB and your brilliant Jetson Nano!! I cannot say if the new Nano 2GB would be sufficient as I do not possess one. However this is not about that, this is about the needs of hundreds and thousands of elderly residents in Nursing and Care facilities not just in the UK but across the world that have no or very limited access to their family members, often only via closed window visits which is heart breaking in its self as they are so near, yet so far away. with the additional impedance of muffled, illegible conversations through the glass.
I know everything I have mentioned works or should work (AR>PCS) I just DO NOT have the skill, knowledge or time for that matter, to merge it into an OS and a simple GUI that can be just simply plugged into the back of a TV with a HDMI cable, Webcam and a power source.
NVIDIA, may wish to pick this up and run with it themselves, fine, brilliant all I ask is that you make it as cheap as possible so that as many people as possible could use it and have the benefit of using it. Or release it as a challenge to the community with their combined knowledge and intellect, however time is of the essence, seeing family members in the rain by a window with loved a one on the other side who dispute all our efforts, prayers and wishes has a limited time left.
We have all been affected by Covid in one way or another, me I’m a Clinical Services Manager, a Nurse, responsible for keeping my residents and staff safe. Im not an IT engineer or software developer im just a Nurse.
Howard Lewis
Clinical Services Manager