"Tweo," or "Talk With Each Other," is a ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) system I designed with a team of University of Michigan students to facilitate communication and support between caregivers and their elderly relatives who live alone. Our team decided to focus on using ubicomp to support the health and well-being of older adults because of the demographic shift which is currently occurring in the United States as baby boomers age. With the aging of this population, an increasing number of older adults live alone. Studies on social isolation have shown that older adults living alone suffer from negative impacts to their physical and mental health, including increased risks for many diseases and cognitive decline.

Ubicomp technology may help to mitigate this problem. Ubicomp involves placing low cost sensors and information processors into regular environments to provide information, communication, and general support for human activities. The tweo system seeks to help maintain the independence of older adults living alone through a system which facilitates communication between them and caretakers while respecting the desires of older adults to maintain a level of privacy and control in being monitored.

Visit the tweo website (https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/612health/) to view a detailed account of our research and ideation process in designing this system.

Team members: Monica Guo, "Sophie" Zhou Shen, and Jashanjit Kaur