Requirements for Gesture-Controlled Remote Operation to Facilitate Human-Technology Interaction in the Living Environment of Elderly People

The “SmartPointer” (SP) technology comprises a universal buttonless gesture-controlled handheld remote device with a simple quasi-intuitive operating structure. With this handset, elderly people will be able to control various household devices in their living environment. In order to develop an age-appropriate SP system, the aim of the study was to determine the requirements of elderly people and people with tremor. For this purpose, a mixed-method design, involving several assessments, a guideline-based interview, a task-based investigation and a questionnaire using a gesture catalog, was applied. The whole sample included 20 seniors being 60 years and older. In the process, qualitative requirements were collected on the topics of device use, operating problems, desired devices for gesture control, receiver unit, gestures, feedback and safety. The interview results emphasized the elderly participants’ needs to an easy and intuitive system use. Furthermore, concerns should be prioritized in order to the development of the system. In the quantitative evaluation, the use of various technical devices was analyzed and the frequency of used gestures was determined based the gesture catalog and the task-based investigation. The most frequently used gestures were horizontal, vertical, circular and targeting gestures. In summary, the elderly people were very interested in, and open-minded towards, the SP-system. In a comparison between healthy persons and persons with tremor, the results demonstrated only minimal differences regarding the requirements.