The Use of Emerging Technologies DIoT: Elderly Daily Living in Post-Epidemic Era

Abstract

As the number of aging population increases, their Quality of Life (QoL) becomes a concern in the society. The elderly is not only vulnerable due to their chronic degeneration issues but may also be insensitive to technological innovation which could possibly improve their QoL in the Industrial Revolution 4.0. The outbreak of COVID-19 has significantly threatened their well-being in their living context and will consequentially change people’s perspective towards normal lifestyle after this public health crisis. Recent studies have highlighted the usability of the drone technology in the automation of navigation, monitoring, and load carrying which can potentially facilitate various purposes of use in our daily life. This paper reviews recent academic works related to Drone-Based Internet of Things (DIoT) technology and extracts the advantages of DIoT applications, which have the potential to assist elderly’s Activity of Daily Living (ADL) in post-epidemic time. Our results suggest that with the low energy consumption, the DIoT techniques are capable of reducing the body exposure under pandemic situation and satisfying the appreciation to normal and digital-connected life in the future. Nevertheless, the limited flying range and low technology penetration among elderly users significantly impede the implementation of DIoT application. Importantly, the DIoT technology upgrades manpower-based manual work. This paper updates to the knowledge of drone technology application in the context of elderly centre during post-pandemic.