Home-Based Intelligent Exercise System for Seniors’ Healthcare: The Example of Golf Croquet

Abstract

In 2020, the world experienced the threat of the COVID-19 epidemic, and seniors and chronic disease patients generally reduced their exercise and social activities to avoid increasing the risk of infection, which could lead to increased loneliness and even many diseases. Combining golf croquet games with a mobile application (App) and AIoT companion robots, this research constructs a home-based intelligent exercise system, uses the technology acceptance model (TAM), deduces users’ intention to use this system based on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and adds the needs of love and belonging, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, and self-actualization in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory (HNT) to conduct an analysis of system needs. This study collected empirical data, totaling 320 participants including seniors and their caregivers, from elderly care centers in northern Taiwan using a cross-sectional survey and purposive sampling. Based on regression and variance analysis, the results show that participants have a high level of acceptance of this system, believing that it is easy to learn and operate and can increase interaction with others, improve self-confirmation, satisfy the thirst for knowledge, increase the feeling of happiness, and fulfill self-actualization needs. In the future, by collecting and recording the process of seniors using the App, so as to find out their health problems as soon as possible, expand their daily life through this exercise, and achieve the goal of happy living and better healthcare.

Keywords

• technology acceptance model
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
• golf croquet
• mobile applications
• companion robot
• AIoT