Development of a System to Support Exercises for Successful Aging Using Smartphones and Verification of Its Effectiveness

In this study, we developed a system that enables people to voluntarily perform exercises for successful aging while maintaining their motivation. The system evaluates exercises based on camera images from a smartphone. The system uses posture estimation AI to estimate posture and evaluates exercises by comparing them with scoring criteria created based on a model posture. The evaluation results are fed back to the user in real time as audiovisual effects on the screen, allowing the user to enjoy the exercises as if they were a game. Based on the evaluation results, the system creates an appropriate exercise menu from the viewpoint of improving motivation. To verify the effectiveness of the application, we asked healthy elderly people to continue the exercises for two months and compared their motivation to exercise and their physical performance before and after the intervention. The results showed that the exercise motivation of the app group was higher than that of the video group using the conventional method, and that the shoulder joint range of motion increased in both groups.