High-Speed Networking and Embedded Gerontechnologies William D

University of South Florida Scholar Commons Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling Faculty Publications

2007 High-Speed Networking and Embedded Gerontechnologies William D. Kearns University of South Florida, [email protected]

James L. Fozard University of South Florida

Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/mhs_facpub

Scholar Commons Citation Kearns, William D. and Fozard, James L., "High-Speed Networking and Embedded Gerontechnologies" (2007). Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling Faculty Publications. 59. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/mhs_facpub/59

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. R e v i e w

High-speed networking and embedded gerontechnologies William D. Kearns PhD Internet2 University Executive Liaison, Department of Aging and Mental Health, Louis De La Parte, Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33612-3807, USA E: [email protected]

James L. Fozard PhD School of Aging Studies, University of South Florida Tampa, FL 33612, USA

W.D. Kearns, J.L. Fozard, High-speed networking and embedded gerontechnologies. Gerontechnology 2007; 6(3):135-146. Information and communications technologies (ICT) have undergone extraordinary advances in the past 5 years. Two aspects of these developments are described along with their implications

for gerontechnology. First, international high speed Internet networks serving the July 2007, Vol 6, No 3 academic community are reviewed, acknowledging that today’s academic networks are poised to inform the public’s computer networks of tomorrow. Second, computational systems that increasingly penetrate every facet of the built environment, for instance, clothing, furnishings, personal items, transportation and home environmental control and security are described. Over time such embedded 135 systems are integrated into large wired and wireless networks of devices which may extend over international boundaries. High bandwidth networked applications in development include multipoint videoconferencing using multicast IPv6 protocols, telepresence, virtual reality simulations and remote sensing for gathering data in built environments. Examples of how these developments create new applications for all four of the goals of gerontechnology - prevention, compensation, care and enhancement of quality of life - are provided. Enhanced tech- nological services for the elderly will develop, including nutritional monitoring, safety and security, mental health and healthcare, environmental control, and communications. International networks promise more uniform care standards for the elderly, increase the opportunity for collaboration among researchers and educators tackling the difficult problems associated with aging, including dementia, heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Networks have the promise of enhancing outcomes by maximizing economies of scale by collecting research observations from multiple international venues. New educational approaches addressing the challenges of aging include virtual reality applications which simulate the impact of aging for young individuals. Monitoring individuals in their homes using ICT and computer networks can impose significant ethical responsibilities upon gov- erning agencies.

Keywords: Internet evolution, embedded ICT, gerontechnology services www.gerontechjournal.net

In this paper we review the rapid escala- personal items, and appliances. Separate- tion in speed and bandwidth of the inter- ly and in combination, the implications of net, two developments that have resulted these developments for a broad range of in very high speed worldwide computer gerontechnology applications and devel- networks. We also review the parallel, opment are discussed. rapid evolution of computational devices which allow information transfer amongst Evolution of the internet people and embedded systems in the The inception of the internet may be traced built environment, for instance, clothing, to October 29th, 1969 when Dr. Leonard

G6(3)Review-Kears-Fozard-v3.indd135 135 10-7-2007 18:18:07 High-speed networking

Kleinrock, then an Associate Professor of specific applications and modifying soft- Engineering at the University of California ware by hand to meet the specific needs at Los Angeles, created the first networked of their research. computer connection between a computer in his laboratory and a computer at In 1991, the privatization of the internet the Stanford Research Institute (SRI)1. The allowed citizens direct access to the net- experiment, consisting of two computers work and they began to communicate was technically a failure, resulting in the with others across great distances. How- SRI machine crashing before the login step ever, in 1993 a world-shaking event hap- was completed. Undaunted, these scien- pened with the release of the first graphical tists redoubled their efforts and eventu- web browser, ‘Mosaic’ from the National ally succeeded in creating the first local Center for Supercomputer Applications2 and then wide area networks (LANs and and CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Re- WANs). Continued funding by the US De- cherche Nucléaire: the European Organi- partment of Defense’s Defense Advanced zation for Nuclear Research). Mosaic inte- Projects Administration (DARPA) created grated difficult to use technologies, such ARPANET, which was heavily used dur- as ‘Telnet (an openly accessible public ing the Cold War period for atomic en- packet data service that allows a compu- July 2007, Vol 6, ergyNo 3 research among DOD sponsored ter operator at a terminal or PC to log onto research centers at universities, giving rise a remote computer and run a program)’, to NSFNET (the National Science Founda- and ‘FTP’ (File Transfer Protocol), and an tion Network), a peacetime application increasing array of other tools, in a simple 136 of computer networking to scientific re- interface that enabled even the most un- search and applications. sophisticated user to surf the internet with comparative ease. The coincident privati- ICT (information and communications zation of the internet meant anyone could technology) is an umbrella term that in- create a World Wide Web site capable cludes any communication device or ap- of providing services to visitors, leading plication encompassing radio, television, to a proliferation of sites now numbering cellular phones, computer and network in the millions. Local connection speeds, hardware and software, satellite systems however, were slow, averaging only a few and so on, as well as the various services hundred bits per second (baud). Coinci- and applications associated with them, dent with website proliferation was the such as videoconferencing and distance proliferation of headaches in the forms of learning. This civilian use of ICT is widely viruses, worms, Trojan horses, phishing accepted as the point in time where the scams, identity fraud, and other problems internet was created, because scientific characteristic of illicit communication ac- research was already being facilitated by tivities in general. international computer networks span- www.gerontechjournal.netning the globe; indeed, e-mail began to Mosaic’s creators retired from academe be regularly transmitted among scientists and started Netscape, Inc. Home net- in 1972. The general public was denied work speeds increased from 300 baud access to this costly network and appro- to 54.000 baud over telephone modems, priate use policies were strict. The scientif- and 750.000 baud access over digital sub- ic applications running on these networks scriber lines (DSL), and 10.000.000 baud were often complex, custom written pro- over cable modems to the home. These grams, which took significant time and ef- technologies are currently being supplant- fort to learn and use. Software developed by 30 Mbit/sec fiber optic network ment was more of a cottage industry with service to the home. With each major in- programmers laboriously writing code for crement in speed, new classes of applica-

G6(3)Review-Kears-Fozard-v3.indd136 136 10-7-2007 18:18:08 High-speed networking

tions have become available. High defini- example, Internet2’s ‘Abilene’5 network tion digital video is the ‘gold standard’ du forbade corporate use except for non- jour but will likely be short-lived as newer commercial research purposes with a technologies are brought to market. university affiliate. Abilene’s replacement, ‘NewNet’6, will replace Abilene in Sep- High speed computer network development tember 2007, and will allow participants Universities were crucial to the creation to use it commercially; meaning universi- of the internet. Stanford’s pioneering work ties will gain a financial incentive to cre- enabled the creation of DARPANET, NS- ate applications and may invite corporate FNET, and the internet. Universities have participation. This policy change is antici- continued to be major driving forces in pated to stimulate Internet2 development internet development since the internet’s and encourage other networks to adopt privatization. In 1996, 34 American uni- similar policies favorable towards free versities joined together to create the enterprise. University Corporation for Advanced In- ternet Development (UCAID)3. The goal Within Internet2, the focus has consist- of UCAID was to tap universities’ creative ently been on developing high bandwidth power to reinvent the internet by imagin- applications which stress networks to the ing and building whole new classes of ap- breaking point in order to improve their July 2007, Vol 6, No 3 plications previously undreamt of. Inherent resistance to failure and to achieve their in UCAID’s philosophy is that university full potential. Considerable attention has laboratories should drive new network ap- been paid to the development of the ‘kill- plications, which should move to the mar- er application’, which to date has been 137 ketplace and steer the developing internet digital video. Video is particularly de- economy. This philosophy is codified in manding of network resources because of UCAID’s Internet2 project, a consortium its ability to utilize almost limitless band- of over 200 of the most prestigious uni- width and its requirements that packets versities in the United States united in a (i) arrive in the order in which they were common goal of advancing high speed transmitted, and (ii) have very low latency internet development through university / in their arrival times and low jitter (the corporate partnerships. sending and receiving machines remain in synchronization). In contrast, applica- The strategic importance of high speed net- tions, such as FTP and web pages, are work development has been seized upon comparatively undemanding. Internet2 by other nations. Currently, the Internet2 applications currently under development project shares memoranda of understand- include multipoint videoconferencing using with over 26 other high speed networks ing IPv6, Telepresence, virtual reality, and whose sponsors have comparable objec- remote sensing over great distances. Tel- tives to Internet24. Within Western Europe, epresence is a communications medium SurfNet brings high speed service to the that enables a person to feel as if he or www.gerontechjournal.net Netherlands, Renater to France, Geant and she is actually present in a different place. Dante to Germany, NorduNet to Scandi- Telepresence utilizes technologies to en- navia and in the Americas, Canarie to Can- able people to experience and take ac- ada, and CUDI to Mexico, to name just a tion in real places that are physically dis- few of such networks. Each network offers tant, hazardous, or inaccessible. Virtual connectivity to hundreds of universities in environments are computer-generated its region of coverage (Table 1). worlds that users may enter and take ac- tion in. These environments can facilitate The conditions of use for these networks the experience of being elderly for young vary and have evolved over time. For persons.

G6(3)Review-Kears-Fozard-v3.indd137 137 10-7-2007 18:18:08 High-speed networking

Table 1. High speed international networks peered with Internet2 Organization Country Organization Country Americas Europe and the Middle East CANARIE Canada ARNES Slovenia CLARA Latin America BELNET Belgium & Caribbean CARNET Croatia CEDIA Ecuador CESnet Czech Republic CNTI Venezuela DANTE Europe CR2Net Costa Rica DFN-Verein Germany CUDI Mexico FCCN Portugal REUNA Chile GARR Italy RETINA Argentina GIP-RENATER France RNP [FAPESP] Brazil GRNET Greece SENACYT Panama HEAnet Ireland Africa, Asia and the Pacific HUNGARNET Hungary AAIREP Australia Israel-IUCC Israel APAN Asia-Pacific MCIT (EUN/ENSTINET) Egypt ANF Korea NORDUnet Nordic countries CERNET, CSTNET, China PSNC/PIONIER Poland July 2007, Vol 6, NSFCNETNo 3 (was POL-34) CDAC, ERNET India Qatar Foundation Qatar JAIRC Japan RedIRIS Spain JUCC Hong Kong RESTENA Luxemburg 138 MYREN/MDeC Malaysia RIPN Russia NECTEC/UNINET Thailand SANET Slovakia REANNZ New Zealand Stichting SURF Netherlands SingAREN Singapore SWITCH Switzerland TANet2 Taiwan TERENA Europe TENET South Africa UKERNA, JISC United Kingdom

People and computer transfers environmental control system on and off. The development of high-speed net- The replacement immediately netted a works has paralleled an equally striking 10% savings in electricity costs per month maturation of embedded computer sys- and allowed for complex scheduling of tems appearing in handheld devices and room temperatures contingent on the household appliances. Formerly ‘dumb’ presence of persons in the home, which machines, such as refrigerators, are being resulted in yet further savings. More recent redesigned with computers to make them versions of the environmental control sys- more energy efficient, and in the future tems can be telephoned or accessed via will enable them to reveal their contents to the internet and reprogrammed remotely www.gerontechjournal.nettheir owners as they search their favorite by the owner8. grocery store for foodstuffs7. With the drop in computing costs and the doubling Data exchange among appliances provides of computing power every 18 months in numerous avenues for improved service accordance with Moore’s Law, intelligent integration. Appliances can now use wire- machines are becoming the norm rather less protocols, such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, than the exception. As a case in point, and 802.11 Ethernet, to exchange informa- one of the authors’ home environmental tion. One might envision an alarm clock control systems was replaced with a com- that communicates wirelessly to the user’s puterized version of the simple but trust- coffee maker and cell phone. The coffee worthy bimetallic strip used to switch the maker will only make coffee when the

G6(3)Review-Kears-Fozard-v3.indd138 138 10-7-2007 18:18:08 High-speed networking

user turns off the alarm, but will not make of persons outside and inside their homes coffee when the user presses the ‘snooze’ can be monitored using global positioning- button indicating his desire to continue based location and context aware appli- sleeping. Likewise his cell phone’s ringer cations and wayfinding tools such as the would also not turn back on until the user Activity Compass which was developed permanently switched off the alarm, sign- for persons with dementia by Patterson, aling that he was starting his day and will- Etzioni, and Kautz10 and which utilizes ing to accept incoming calls. wireless networks.

New gerontechnologies Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) High-speed networks create opportunities technologies offer some of the greatest op- for widespread monitoring and service de- portunities for integration into large scale livery for individuals, often at extraordinary networks in the near future. A variant un- distances. They may expand applications der investigation is ultra-wideband RFID, in all five domains of gerontechnology - which uses powered transponder devices Health & Self-esteem, Housing & Daily (referred to as tags) to communicate with Activities, Communication & Governance, base stations over distances of as much as Mobility & Transport, and Work & Leisure. 183 meters and may use wireless internet The goals of gerontechnology interven- protocols (IP) as a communications chan- July 2007, Vol 6, No 3 tions - the prevention or delay of age-re- nel. Tag position can be determined to the lated losses of function, compensation for decimeter range anywhere in the field of functions that decline with age, care for view of the receiving antennae, making elderly persons with disabilities, and en- the tags extremely useful for providing lo- 139 hancement of the quality of life - will all cation-aware services contingent on a per- have expanded possibilities as a result of son’s position in the home11. Because the the developments described above9. The tags are tiny computers, they may acquire examples to be discussed show how high data directly from the wearer, including speed networking will provide the basis physiological measures, acceleration infor expanded services that contribute to formation, etc. Their theoretical band- independence and well-being of aging and width for transferring data exceeds 1 Gi- aged people. High speed communication gabit/sec at close range12. The battery life between a person and several smart tech- on such tags may exceed two years under nologies, which themselves may be net- normal use, permitting extended service worked, is the main feature of networking provisioning and monitoring. The applica- that underlies the many examples to be tion of RFID in home settings is particu- cited. larly useful in situations requiring differ- entiating people within a common locale. Monitoring and interventions For example, appliances can be custom- For goals related to compensation and ized to the desires of multiple users in the care in the Health and Self-esteem domain, home and can learn the user’s identity by www.gerontechjournal.net high-speed networks enhance telemedi- the proximity of their unique tag. Interac- cine applications, such as videoconfer- tive movements of persons with demen- encing and telehealth (remote monitoring tia and their caregivers may be studied to of physiological conditions), by reducing better understand wandering behaviors13. packet latency and jitter and improving Similarly, the interactions of new nursing overall quality of service for these appli- home admissions with a service robot cations. Low packet latency and jitter are may be monitored to assess how well essential to the proper diagnosis and treat- they are adapting to the novel environment at a distance of movement disorders, ment. This strategy has been utilized by such as Parkinson’s disease. The activities Japanese researchers14 employing ‘Paro’, a

G6(3)Review-Kears-Fozard-v3.indd139 139 10-7-2007 18:18:08 High-speed networking

robotic harp seal whose behavior adapts to the nursing home resident (Figure 1). As it learns, Paro provides researchers with data about the person’s adaptation to the nursing home environment via sensors embedded in its skin and its wireless network connection. At least one study of nursing home residents has shown reduced stress hormone levels in elders when Paro learns from its social interactions with them, but when Paro engaged in stereotyped behaviors unaffected by elder interaction levels of stress hormones remained elevated14. Figure 1. Paro the Robotic Harp Seal with Adap- High-speed network links for robots may tive Intelligence14 increase their behavioral versatility; machine to machine communication permits activities, detection of dangerous changes distributed intelligence allowing individual in gait, identification of dangerous chang- robots to cache the minimum information es in driving behavior, etc., all applications July 2007, Vol 6, necessaryNo 3 to perform their function and that are particularly relevant to gerontech- yet benefit from system wide changes in nology goals of prevention and enhance- care policies. ment. In this respect high-speed networks are analogous to the body’s nervous sys- 140 As indicated above, networking allows tem and provide sensory and effector data for remote monitoring of an individual’s as well as serving an integrative function activities in a home setting that goes far with ICT. Smart gerontechnologies should beyond the level provided by services perform their functions more efficiently such as LifeLine or LifeAlert15. The than their ‘non-smart’ alternatives. If we movements and location of a person can conceptualize a given gerontechnology be tracked, and the use of food, water, as a human interface with a network, we heat, electricity, etc., may be determined can consider how differing intelligence through networks with other smart tech- levels in the interface and the larger net- nologies. In home environments, moni- work can affect interactions with the elder toring the quality of indoor air is particu- user. For example, eyeglasses are a tech- larly important for elderly persons with nology that improves an elder’s ability to pulmonary or cardiopulmonary disease. gain information from and to interact with Deviations from normal behavior pat- their environment. However, eyeglasses terns within the home environment may tend to be ‘dumb’ since additional infor- indicate problems with gait, breathing, etc. mation from an outside source may not The sensors required for such applications (at least not at present) improve their per- www.gerontechjournal.netcan be embedded in articles of clothing formance. In this instance, the eyeglass or wearable appliances16 thereby increas- interface has no intelligence. In contrast, ing the potential for monitoring outside of consider an electronic hearing aid with home settings - to anywhere a receiving sophisticated acoustic profiling software antenna is available. built in and having Bluetooth connectivity to networked resources17. As a comput- Improved interventions ing machine, the hearing aid is a remark- High-speed networks allow faster inter- able device. Its local computing power, actions between a person and remote however, may be augmented efficiently machines in games, virtual simulations, by interfacing it to a wide area network machine-guided physical rehabilitation capable of delivering software upgrades

G6(3)Review-Kears-Fozard-v3.indd140 140 10-7-2007 18:18:08 High-speed networking

to the operating system of the hearing aid the purchase of products through self- or via Bluetooth. The designer must decide clerk-run checkout operations. A person’s the amount of intelligence to reside in the purchasing history can be used by the interface (hearing aid), and this choice retailer to advertise related products or must be informed by at least three pa- promote the sale of less expensive alterna- rameters. First, the hearing aid’s level of tives to those in the customer’s shopping desired autonomy must be determined by cart. The customer may also use networks the designer. If the device must operate to learn about a rival store’s prices for the in isolation from a wide area network for same items18. RFID tags may be linked in extended intervals, it should have enough novel ways to electronic display devices intelligence to be self-sufficient. Second, to expand the presentation modalities for if the hearing aid must have its operating product information to compensate for system patched or upgraded regularly to age associated declines in perceptual and enhance its performance for the benefit motor function, not a trivial matter. Roger of the elder whose hearing may be dete- Coleman, an industrial designer, vividly riorating quickly, then access to a fast net- illustrated the problems encountered by work connection would be very beneficial older persons shopping in British Safeway to effect these changes, however, a lower Stores by giving members of the Compa- premium may be placed on self-sufficien- ny’s Board of Directors—mostly elderly July 2007, Vol 6, No 3 cy. A third factor to be determined by the themselves--a shopping list of items to gerontechnology designer is the degree purchase in a typical Safeway Store19. The to which a device must actively process directors were greatly surprised at how data and reflexively respond to changing difficult it was to read labels and reach 141 local circumstances, ambient noise in the items on shelves, and they instructed store case of hearing aids. As a second exam- managers to take steps to make it easier for ple, a device which detects and corrects older persons to shop at Safeway Stores19. for abnormalities in gait may need to cal- culate geometry very quickly in order to Internet on-line comparison shopping and prevent a fall and possible hip fracture. product evaluation is currently the norm. Fast network response speeds could be High-speed networking moves these ac- offset by unpredictable network conges- tivities from the desktop PC to the hand- tion; however, this might be less a factor held cellular telephone in the center of on very high-speed computer networks. the marketplace. A customer can scan a A hip fracture caused by data processing product and see immediately on his tel- delays at a remote computer would be a ephone’s display what it costs in a com- very bad outcome. In this instance, lo- petitor’s store down the street20. Consum- cal processing speed would be prized so er networks of phone shoppers can share dynamic changes in the elder’s position product data among themselves thereby could be rapidly compensated. optimizing their buying power, important to persons on a fixed income. Networking www.gerontechjournal.net Consumer activities senior customers will more readily obtain In addition to its current uses in inven- competitive prices on products used by all tory control, RFID technology is becom- age groups, but especially those targeted ing more integrated in customer oriented towards them. Aside from using networks retailing operations. This is a develop- to find the best prices, senior customers ment relevant to gerontechnology’s goal can adopt a practice already in vogue with of enhancement. Because RFID devices teenagers; a girl trying out new outfits can are small computers, the information they use her cell phone camera to model them provide can duplicate the information for her friends who can advise her on the carried on bar codes, thereby simplifying best choice20.

G6(3)Review-Kears-Fozard-v3.indd141 141 10-7-2007 18:18:08 High-speed networking

Coaching, guidance and motivation to change their ranking among athletes. The way that machines influence human Similar approaches may benefit weight behavior has evolved with changes over training where networked exercise tech- time in the natural and built environment nology helps identify target performance (secular changes). Man’s struggle to mas- for everyday users. ‘Smart’ clothing, con- ter the machine has been the topic of taining embedded sensors and systems humorous films such as ‘Modern Times’, that provide information about energy featuring Charlie Chaplin’s struggle with expended or a similar measure of mus- an unruly assembly line, and the French cle group performance, might provide a film, ‘Mr. Hulot’s Holiday’, showing the better training guide than the number of star battling a cantankerous automobile. A times a given weight is lifted16. Such a de- new use of computers to influence human velopment might be of special interest to behavior has been formally described in women, who may not be so interested in a recent book, ‘Persuasive Technology’21. increasing visible muscle mass in the way Machines can provide coaching, guid- many men are but are instead interested ance, and reinforcement for specific be- in maintaining muscle tone. haviors that may fulfill gerontechnology goals. Precisely timed structured guid- Networks can promote artistic and so- July 2007, Vol 6, anceNo 3 and wayfinding instructions can be cial activities among seniors, everything provided to tourists and others via high from virtual quilting bees to virtual jam speed networks. One application of smart sessions—musical and similar non-musi- networked technology to manage wan- cal activities. Networking increases the 142 dering behavior of persons with dementia opportunities for both serial and paral- has been proposed22. Location aware and lel additions to a work of art by network communication technology on the wan- members perhaps even more so than derer would be linked to provide synthetic was possible in the technology-facilitated voice instructions to the person; the mes- group painting activity described by Bou- sages transmitted would be contingent on ma and Harrington24. the location information. Ethics and security Motivation for establishing and maintain- The issue of security and confidentiality ing healthy lifestyles throughout life is a of information streams generated by net- challenge for people of all ages but is es- worked gerontechnologies in the home pecially challenging for seniors. Cardiovas- is significant, yet in some sense the argu- cular and strength training machines pro- ment against networking gerontechnolo- vide opportunities for reinforcing behavior gies has been rendered moot by the ex- based on user performance23. The desired cessive amount of personal information behavior in cardiovascular training is the already available to the casual observer maintenance of a target heart rate for a of the Internet. A person skilled in data www.gerontechjournal.netgiven period of time. Feedback consisting mining can reconstruct much of our daily of heart rate, distance traveled, walking behavior patterns using our credit card speed, energy expended, and even the purchase histories, credit histories, online display flashing ‘Great workout!’ at the government documents, digital video re- workout’s conclusion are all designed to cordings of our business transactions, and reinforce exercise behavior. Networked the myriad internet sites we voluntarily fill exercise technology opens up additional with our personal information. To a large opportunities for reinforcement including extent adding networked gerontechnology facilitating competition among peers per- to a home gives only a trivial advantage to forming similar exercises; individuals may individuals who are intent on using such be motivated to exercise harder in order information for criminal activities. Increas-

G6(3)Review-Kears-Fozard-v3.indd142 142 10-7-2007 18:18:08 High-speed networking

ingly stringent standards are evolving for connectivity to the home. With regard to the protection of information transferred usability, alternative protocols to Internet by computer networks; the data are au- Protocol version 6 (IPv6) (the current high- tomatically encrypted and sent to remote speed standard) are always under devel- hosts via secure communications chan- opment in university laboratories; how- nels25. Middleware protocols, such as ever, there is a large investment in IPv6 Shibboleth, designed to protect critical as the successor to IPv4, the standard on data and medical records are being per- which most networked applications are fected at American universities and must currently based. The specifications of the comply with strict federal health privacy network protocol have a direct bearing standards according to the HIPAA (Health upon the types of user applications that Insurance Portability and Accountability result. Usability becomes of paramount Act) guidelines. The tiny loss of privacy importance at the user application inter- risked by transmitting gerontechnology face where the difficult human factors de- data streams is more than offset by the sign work takes place, ensuring that the huge potential they provide for gathering gerontechnology meets the needs of the new insights into the aging process and elders it was designed to serve. An area of helping designers create better gerontech- network research with direct implications nologies and gerontechnology services. for gerontechnology applications devel- July 2007, Vol 6, No 3 opment relates to the implementation of Of greater concern is the potential for the multicast technologies27. High bandwidth spreading of viruses, worms, and other multicast is not regularly or uniformly im- forms of what Hypponen26 calls ‘mal- plemented on the commercial internet 143 ware’ to mobile phones and other devices and remains largely experimental; how- used to connect with the internet. Cellular ever, the potential changes it may usher phones are increasingly used to download in when introduced to the public internet programs and information from the inter- are enormous. Multicast permits a single net and they are vulnerable to the same network device to stream data to thou- problems experienced by users of per- sands of other devices simultaneously. sonal computers. Because they are wire- A single video camera connected to the lessly networked, the opportunistic virus high-speed network becomes an inter- caught by one phone can be more easily national TV station carrying video world- spread to other phones or other comput- wide to potentially thousands of viewers ing devices. while not significantly increasing network traffic. In contrast, current video is sent us- Accessibility and usability ing Unicast, which requires that the trans- High-bandwidth networks such as Inter- mitter establish separate video streams to net2’s Abilene backbone are currently re- each receiver of the video, multiplying stricted to academic institutions and their the amount of bandwidth consumed by partners only. US citizens cannot access the number of viewers. In a hypothetical www.gerontechjournal.net these resources except through a relation- gerontechnology application, the data ship with a subscribing university or their from all of the interacting embedded partner institution; however, other nations’ systems monitoring an elder in a single networks vary in their conditions of use household could be sent to hundreds of and must be reviewed on an individual researchers worldwide simultaneously for basis. The highest bandwidth networks by analysis. This cannot be done currently definition will always be in prototype stag- without replicating the data stream for es but their product spin-offs will appear each researcher from each transmitting in the public domain as commercial offer- device, at a high cost in both bandwidth ings such as Verizon Inc’s FIOS 30 Mbit and hardware resources.

G6(3)Review-Kears-Fozard-v3.indd143 143 10-7-2007 18:18:08 High-speed networking

R&D Applications formation which will assist their designers Compared to cross-sectional studies of to construct better gerontechnologies ca- aging that infer age related changes from pable of providing an ever widening and differences between age cohorts, serial precisely defined array of services. The observations of aging in the same indi- data collected will allow us to better under- vidual are generally considered to provide stand the needs of aging populations, and superior scientific information about aging the differences that exist among cultures. processes28. We believe that the entire ap- This last element is very significant inso- proach to longitudinal research on aging much as today’s seniors are more mobile may be significantly altered by the high- than ever before and may migrate across speed networking technology under dis- international borders when they retire. A cussion. Physiological and behavioral in- better understanding of their behavior and formation can be obtained easily in natural gerontechnology service use in their cul- settings, thereby increasing the efficiency, ture of origin may assist the process of as- comprehensiveness, and convenience of similation into their adopted culture. longitudinal research that currently requires volunteers to make periodic visits Conclusion to specialized facilities. Moreover, the in- This essay has described the evolution of July 2007, Vol 6, teractionsNo 3 between a person and his or her the internet from its beginnings through environment can be described at a level the current developments in high-speed heretofore impossible, permitting opera- internet networks that are now in ex- tional definitions for concepts such as the istence in most of the world. It also de- 144 balance of environmental press against scribed parallel developments in the way personal competence that are embedded computing capacity can be distributed in many transactional theories of aging29- in the built environment, thereby allow- 33. The expanded possibilities for gathering for greater communication amongst ing data about aging in natural settings in people, smart appliances and products, multiple cultures will require a consider- and among the appliances and prod- able amount of work in formulating test- ucts themselves. With this background, able hypotheses, an exciting prospect for gerontechnological applications were de- gerontologists. scribed that illustrate the myriad ways in which information exchanges between a The invention of the telescope enabled person and their environment are possi- early explorers to peer into the heavens ble as a result of high-speed networking. and record nature’s heavenly bodies in ex- Networked technology provides people quisite detail. The clarity provided by the with the ability to easily obtain critical instrument allowed the precise plotting information about themselves as well as of astronomical paths and a better under- information about their environment and standing of our universe. Today, massively products they want and use. At the same www.gerontechjournal.netnetworked astronomical arrays permit us time, coaching, medical and rehabilitative to track thousands of bodies simultane- services that support healthy lifestyles and ously, searching for new knowledge about independent functioning of elderly per- the universe. Likewise, we have the oppor- sons can be provided in a natural home tunity to turn the telescope upon ourselves setting to a degree unimagined up to now. and learn by tracking not heavenly bodies, The developments described provide the but human bodies as they age. Networked potential for longitudinal observational gerontechnologies scattered throughout studies of aging of people in natural set- the European Union, the Americas, Asia, tings, the results of which can form the ba- and Africa can simultaneously provide sis for interventional research and cultural services to seniors and record valuable in- comparisons of aging.

G6(3)Review-Kears-Fozard-v3.indd144 144 10-7-2007 18:18:08 High-speed networking

Acknowledgements 2003;2(2):169-172 The writers wish to thank Ms Ardis Hanson, 10. Patterson D, Etzioni O, Kautz H. The Dr. Victor Molinari and the anonymous re- activity compass. In: Proceedings of viewers of a previous version of this article for UbiCog ’02: First International Workshop their constructive criticisms and suggestions. on Ubiquitous Computing for Cognitive Some of the material contained in this arti- Aids, Gothenburg, Sweden. September cle was presented at the International Con- 29, 2002; http://luci.ics.uci.edu/ ference on Gerontic Technology and Service websiteContent/weAreLuci/biographies/ Management Conference, Nan Kai, Taiwan faculty/djp3/ - March 26, 2007 by William D. Kearns and LocalCopy/compass03tr.doc; retrieved James L. Fozard under the title of ‘Persuasive May 17, 2007 Technologies which Change Attitudes and 11. Hancke G, Kuhn M. An RFID distance Behaviors Can Support the Ambitions and bounding protocol. In: Proceedings Activities of Older Persons’. of the First International Conference on Security and Privacy for Emerging References Areas in Communications Networks: 1. Leiner B, Cerf V, Clark D, Kahn R, SecureComm 2005, Athens, Greece, Kleinrock L, Lynch D, Postel J, Roberts 5-9 September 2005. Los Alamitos: IEEE L, Wolff S. The past and future history of Computer Society; 2005; pp 67–73 the internet: The science of future tech- 12. Arslan H, Ning Chen Z, Di Bene- nology. Communications of the ACM detto M. Ultra wideband wireless 1997;40(2):102-108 communication. New Jersey: Wiley- 2. National Center for Supercomputer Interscience; 2006 July 2007, Vol 6, No 3 Applications. The future frontier: 13. Greiner C, Makimoto K, Suzuki M, Ya- Computing on NCSA Mosaic’s 10th an- makawa M, Ashida N. Feasibility study niversary; 2003; http://www.ncsa.uiuc. of the integrated circuit tag monitor- edu/Conferences/MosaicEvent/; retrieved ing system for dementia residents in January 26, 2007 Japan. American Journal of Alzheim- 145 3. Internet2. Ann Arbor: The Association; er’s Disease and Other Dementias 2007; Internet2: International relations: 2007;22(2):129-136 An overview; 14. Saito T, Shibata T, Wada K, Tanie K. http://international.internet2.edu/ Relationship between interaction with resources/presentations/2006/20060808- the mental commit robot and change of internet2intlpartners.pdf; retrieved: Janu- stress reaction of the elderly. In: Pro- ary 26, 2007 ceedings of the 2003 IEEE International 4. Internet2. Ann Arbor: The Association; Symposium on Computational Intelli- 2007; Internet2 international partner- gence in Robotics and Automation, July ships; http://international.internet2.edu/ 16-20, 2003; Kobe, Japan, volume 1. index.cfm; retrieved January 26, 2007 Piscataway: IEEE; pp 119-124 5. Internet2. Ann Arbor: The Association; 15. Kearns WD, Rosenberg D, West L, Ap- 2007; Abilene: Advanced networking for plegarth S. An evaluation of stakeholder leading-edge research and education; attitudes and expectations of technolo- http://abilene.internet2.edu/; retrieved: gies to manage wandering behavior in January 26, 2007 persons with dementia. Gerontechnol- 6. Internet2. Ann Arbor: The Association; ogy 2007;6(2):89-101 2007; Internet2’s new network back- 16. Korhonen I, Pärkkä J, Gils M van. Health bone: Technical overview; http://www. monitoring in the home of the future.

internet2.edu/files/ IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biol- www.gerontechjournal.net Internet2-New-Network-Tech-v0.9.pdf; ogy Magazine 2003;22(3):66-74 retrieved January 26, 2007 17. Qian H, Loizou P, Dorman M. Phone-as- 7. Helal S, Mann W, El-Zabadani H, King sistive devices based on Bluetooth tech- J, Kaddoura Y. The Gator Tech Smart nology for cochlear implant users. IEEE House: a programmable pervasive space. Transactions on Neural Systems Rehabili- Computer 2005;38(3):50-60 tation Engineering 2003;11(3):282-287 8. Carner GA, Hesse BJ, Schultz 18. Albright F. Future shop. St. Petersburg KV. Apparatus and method for wire- Times 2007 (February 5): Section D:1 less control. United States patent US 19. Coleman R. Improving the quality of life 6622925 B2. September 23, 2003 for older persons by design. In: Graaf- 9. Bronswijk JEMH van, Bouma H, Fozard mans J, Taipele V, Charness N, editors. J. Technology for quality of life: An Gerontechnology: A sustainable invest- enriched taxonomy. Gerontechnology ment in the future. Amsterdam: IOS

G6(3)Review-Kears-Fozard-v3.indd145 145 10-7-2007 18:18:09 High-speed networking

Press; 1998; pp 74-83 http://middleware.internet2.edu/; re- 20. Struker J, Sackmann S, Muller G. Case trieved February 7, 2007 study on retail customer communication 26. Hypponen M. Malware goes mobile. applying ubiquitous computing. In: Bich- Scientific American, 2006;295(5):70-77 ler M, Chung J.-C, editors. Proceedings 27. Internet2. Ann Arbor: The Association; of the IEEE International Conference on 2007. Internet2 multicast working group; e-commerce technology, CEC 2004, July http://multicast.internet2.edu/; retrieved 2004. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer May 23, 2007 Society; 2004; pp 42-48; 28. Fozard JL, Metter EJ, Brant LJ, Pearson JD, http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/5/9218/29236/ Baker GT. Goals for the next generation 01319716.pdf?isnumber=29236& of longitudinal studies. In: Schroots JJF, prod=STD&arnumber=1319716& editor. Aging, health and competence. arnumber=1319716&arSt=+42& Amsterdam: Elsevier; 1993; pp 35-52 ared=+48&arAuthor=Struker%2C+J.% 29. Lawton M. Future society and technol- 3B+Sackmann%2C+S.%3B+Muller% ogy. In: Graafmans JAM, Taipele V, 2C+G; retrieved May 17, 2007 Charness N. editors, Gerontechnology: 21. Fogg B. Persuasive technology: Using A sustainable investment in the future. computers to change what we think and Amsterdam: IOS Press; 1998; pp 12-22 do. New York: Morgan Kaufmann; 2002 30. Kahana E. A congruence model of per- 22. Kearns WD, Fozard JL. Technologies to son-environment interaction. In: Lawton manage wandering. In: Nelson A, Algase MP, Windley PG, Byerts TO, editors, D, editors. Safe and ethical approaches Aging and the environment: Theoretical

July 2007, Vol 6, No 3 for wandering behaviors: A practice approaches. New York: Springer; 1982; guide. New York: Springer; 2007 (in pp 97-121 press) 31. Baltes PB, Baltes MM. Psychological 23. Carraro GU, Cortes M, Edmark JT, Ensor perspectives on successful aging: The JR. The Peloton bicycling simulator. In: model of selective optimization with 146 Spencer SN, Roehl, B, editors. Proceed- compensation. In: Baltes PB, Baltes MM, ings VRML ‘98 : Third Symposium on editors, Successful aging: Perspectives the Virtual Reality Modeling Language, from the behavioral sciences. New York: Monterey, California, February 16-19, Cambridge University Press; 1990; pp 1998. New York: Association for Com- 1-27 puting Machinery; 1998; pp 63-70 32. Fozard JL, Popkin SJ. Optimizing adult 24. Bouma H, Harrington TL. Information development: Ends and means of an and communication. In: Harrington TL applied psychology of aging. American and Harrington MK, editors. Geron- Psychologist 1978;33:975-989 technology: Why and how. Maastricht: 33. Fozard JL. Impacts of technology on Shaker; 2000; pp 139-164 health and self-esteem. Gerontechnol- 25. Internet2. Ann Arbor: The Association; ogy 2005;4(2):63-76 2007. Internet2 middleware initiative; www.gerontechjournal.net

G6(3)Review-Kears-Fozard-v3.indd146 146 10-7-2007 18:18:09