IBM wants to protect senior citizens by tracking nearly their every move

Baby boomers aren't getting any younger, and IBM knows it. Over the last several years, the computing giant has spent much of its time researching ways to keep America's second-largest generation happy and healthy in old age. That research has zeroed in on outfitting boomers' living spaces with artificially-intelligent sensors that can measure things like air quality, sleep quality, movement patterns, falls, and changes in scent and sound. Susann Keohane, senior technologist at IBM Research, says the data captured by those sensors can then help family members and doctors provide people with better care when needed. Critically, the sensors could detect when people deviate from a baseline to offer person-specific alerts.