EBI SPHERE animation by Aardman

This film, produced by Aardman Animations on the occasion of the launch of the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research, asked members of the public for their views on the technologies being developed by the SPHERE IRC - Sensor Platform for HEalthcare in a Residential Environment Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration - and what the outcomes might mean for them.

The UK's healthcare system faces unprecedented challenges from the increasing age of our population, rises in obesity and diabetes, and the complexity of providing high quality mental health care for all. Older people are at risk from isolation and fractures caused by falls in the home, but are keen to live at home rather than in a hospital or residential care. Technology has great potential to help address these problems, and so ensure people remain healthy and living in their own homes.

Funded by the EPSRC, the SPHERE IRC will develop sensor technologies that employ video, wireless sensing and data from home electricity and water meters to:

Predict falls and detect strokes so that help may be summoned;
Analyse eating behaviour, including whether people are taking their prescribed medication;
Detect periods of depression or anxiety and intervene using a computer-based therapy, eg a mobile app.