Seoul to increase smart IoT devices to care for the elderly

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said on Thursday that it will install 12,500 IoT devices by 2022 for the elderly living alone, who mostly stay at home due to physical and mental illness. Seoul has already installed IoT devices at about 5,000 households to provide the elderly with care service. It plans to add 2,500 more devices every year for the next three years.

The IoT devices have sensors that detect human movement, temperature, humidity, and brightness. The data collected by the sensors are sent to some 70 relevant care service centers as well as the metropolitan government and district offices for real-time monitoring. The life support officers for the elderly can check the well-being of the elderly via a cell phone application.

If any movement is not being detected for a certain period of time or there are signs of anomalies, a life support officer will immediately make a call or pay a visit. If it is an emergency, an officer will take emergency measures, such as calling 119. Those who have a difficulty communicating through phone calls due to hearing impairment or who do not want visits from life support officers due to conditions such as depression can also receive health management care through real-time monitoring system.


Chang-Kyu Park kyu@donga.com