A.   Project Goals:

To provide a pleasant and appealing training platform for the elderly who are unable to perform mobility activities. The implementation of this carpet in the community center will provide entertainment for the elderly while making them motivated to do mobility exercises.

B.   Fund-raising support & Other external sponsorship:

-        Faculty of Engineering, UM

C.  Project Implementation:

1.     Project Flow Summary:

a.     1 Jul - 16 Jul 2022

-        Materials procurement to develop the Dancing Carpet prototype.

-        Development of the Dancing Carpet prototype

b.     17 Jul 2022

-        Visit PAWE Gombak and get feedback on the design of the Dancing Carpet

c.     18 Jul 2022 – 1 Aug 2022

-        Crowdfunding campaign

d.     1 Aug – 31 Aug 2022

-        Analysis of the feedback and opinion of the users

-        Development research to improve the quality of the Dancing Carpet

e.     1 Sep – 30 Sep 2022

-        Developing the new design for the Dancing Carpet

f.      14 Oct 2022

-        Received Grant from My Starfish Foundation

g.     1 Nov – 14 Nov 2022

-        Research materials for the new Dancing Carpet

h.     27 Nov – 7 Dec 2022

-        Develop and improve the Dancing Carpet

i.      9 Dec 2022 – 23 Dec 2022

-        Visit PAWE Sungai Kantan and do exercises with the elderly

2. Difficulties

-        Short of the workforce to conduct the project efficiently

-        Inefficient time management to carry out the project

-        Poor communication with the upper management of the university

3. Language or cultural barriers

We had a great engagement with the elderly in the community center. They were very cooperative and willing to try out the Dancing Carpet as they wanted to maintain a healthy lifestyle. They gave good feedback and opinions on the dancing carpet, allowing us to improve it further.

4. Project Implementation Process

Throughout the implementation of the project, there were some difficulties we faced. Mainly, most of the team members were busy with university courses, which impacted our performance as it is difficult to find free time for discussion and activity as a team. However, we managed to overcome the problem and spent time together to conduct the project. Furthermore, we had a communication problem with the university's upper management, which affected our project schedule. Nevertheless, we communicated properly with them and continued our project implementation. There are definite improvements that can be made to enhance efficiency and performance in the future.

Besides, we received much support from the elderly and the community center to conduct our project. They were willing to participate in the project and involved in the Dancing Carpet's mobility activities. During the crowdfunding process, some supporters from the lecturers and students of biomedical engineers were willing to assist with the project implementation and help out the elderly in the community center.

5. Beneficiaries

The main objective of our project is to create a rehabilitation device that can motivate the elderly to do exercises and participate in mobility activities. Hence, the design of this device is to provide a pleasant and appealing training platform for the elderly. When this platform is used in the community center, it will entertain the elderly while motivating them to perform mobility exercises.

Furthermore, the development of this Dancing Carpet will lead to more implementation in other community centers in the long term. This will benefit more elderly in the future as it will encourage them to exercise regularly in the community center and lead a healthy lifestyle.

6. Post-project

This project is our first attempt to integrate the newly designed Dancing Carpet into community centers for the elderly in rehabilitation activities. The design of the carpet is to motivate the elderly to participate in mobility exercises while making it easy to be carried, stored, and transported to other locations. Moreover, this project will educate the elderly on the importance of conducting rehabilitation and how it will impact their walking gait and stability in the long run. To conclude, we will further improve the design of the Dancing Carpet and implement this rehabilitation method in other community centers to inspire the elderly to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

a.

How does or will your project contribute to happiness? Short-term? Long-term?

Together on Dancing Carpet project brings happiness to the elderly at community centers to exercise and maintain a healthy body. Before the project started, we noticed that the elderly were often not motivated to join any rehabilitation activities. Thus, we decided to design a specially-made carpet to make the rehabilitation process more fun and engaging for the elderly. Therefore, the Dancing Carpet was developed to introduce a colorful rehabilitation device that can encourage the elderly to participate in mobility exercises.

The innovation of this carpet is that this carpet uses a 'game-based' approach by placing squeakers inside the carpet. When the user steps on the carpet, the squeaker inside the carpet will produce the sound and it will become biofeedback to the user. Our designed carpet is useful to motivate and encourage the elderly to participate in rehabilitation because it provides biofeedback to the user when the user stepped on the carpet and encourages the user to further continue the mobility exercise.

In the short term, the elderly will be encouraged to engage in mobility exercises as entertainment. In the long term, this rehabilitation procedure will be implemented in other community centers so that more elderly can utilize it for mobility exercises.

Has your project changed the way you think about the world? How has it changed you?

During the implementation of the project, many unexpected problems affected the progress of the project. However, there is always a way to solve problems as long as we work as a team and discuss with each other how to resolve them. We have learned that there is a limit to what a person can do, so it is crucial to rely on others if any help is needed. There are always other people who are willing to help in this project and encourage us to help the elderly in the community center.

Conducting this project makes us realize that even as students, there is something that we can do to help the underprivileged community. As long as we are willing to help others, it is possible to bring positive changes in society and the world.

b.

Muhammad Tariq:
“I am happy and satisfied seeing the elderly enjoy exercising with the Dancing Carpet.”

Shivaroopini Mohan:
“It is a valuable experience for me to be able to contribute and bring positive changes to the elderly.”

Associate Professor Dr. Nor Azah Hamzaid:
“It makes me happy that the elderly enjoyed 'rehabilitating' with Dancing Carpet.”

Associate Professor Dr. Julia Patrick Engkasan:
“It is satisfying to be able to motivate the elderly to join in mobility exercises with our new invention.”

Hasleezan Binti Arifin:
“I am very thankful to be able to participate in this project, helping the elderly to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”