Reassuring the elderly regarding the use of mobile devices for mobility

Abstract

People facing threats of mobility loss have their self-confidence shaken and tend to reduce their physical activity. As is well-known, the decreased physical activity, particularly for the elderly, is one of the factors that contribute to accelerating the deterioration of their health with consequent loss of autonomy and quality of life. Today, GPS-based technologies available on mobile devices offer many solutions to help guide users around much of the world. However, there are several known factors that act as barriers to the use of these technologies, such as user unfamiliarity with these devices, the complexity of geographical information and the difficulty of typing the origin and destination locations. In this paper we propose a solution for mobile devices that seeks to promote user confidence in daily mobility, especially among the elderly. We present the main system functionalities and the interface design. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.