Integrated sensing techniques for assistive chairs: a survey towards sit-to-stand problems

This paper presents a survey of the contemporary assistive chairs and on-chair sensing approaches of capturing sit-to-stand (STS) movement. Sitting in a chair and standing up from a seated position are activities of daily living (ADLs) performed by humans. However, older people often encounter difficulties with these activities. These difficulties may cause substantial decreasing of the elderly mobility, leading to inactive participation in social activities and increasing the risk of chronic diseases that may cause premature death. Therefore, assisting older people to overcome these difficulties has significance for their independent living. At present, the assistive devices can be allocated in terms of market available ones and experimental prototypes, both of which are discussed here. Afterwards, the authors cast more light on integrated sensing techniques that are currently used with experimental prototypes and create a taxonomy of sensing techniques. Following from this survey, a chair capable of delivering assistance-as-needed is proposed.