Hip-mounted sensors have an awkward failure rate. Some get lost. Some, in the words of Sanjay Ranka, “would end up in the bathtub and get destroyed.” That frustration is part of what drove a University of Florida computer scientist to help build something sturdier: a smartphone platform that lets researchers follow older people in their ordinary lives, without asking them to come in.
The project is called G-CARE, short for “Gerontology Centers united to Aid Remote Research in Elders”. The money comes from the National Institute on Aging, an NIH institute. UF’s Institute on Aging listed an award of $3.3M for the work in July 2026, and describes a three-way effort that also brings in Emory and UAB, the institute’s own page spelling the project name G-CAR2E.
Phone as hub, watch as sensor
Ranka teaches computer and information science and engineering; his co-leader Todd Manini is a professor of health outcomes and biomedical informatics in the College of Medicine and currently acts as head of UF’s Institute on Aging. Their design makes the phone the place where data is processed, while a smartwatch does the collecting. Ranka’s reasoning is simple. Watches replaced the hip device, and they come with a bonus: they can talk back. The watch can ask the wearer, “Hey, are you okay?” if someone needs to step in.
The wiring is described in concrete terms. An accelerometer in the phone could feed a small machine learning model that senses falls, gait problems or even a limp, then warn both the person and a healthcare provider that a fall may be coming. The platform is also meant to track mobility, cognition, medications, symptoms and daily activities, and to work with wearables, GPS and cognitive tests. Researchers can choose from validated questionnaires and sensors without writing code, according to the institute.
The gap Manini wants closed
Manini’s complaint is about coverage. Much of what matters in late life, he said, is rarely recorded: mobility, physical function, symptoms, whether someone can keep living independently. Clinics see people briefly and seldom. “We simply are not getting a holistic view of health in late life,” he said.
The work is organised around what UF calls “the five Ms of geriatrics”, which start with mobility and end with multi-complexity. Ranka, who admits he came to the topic partly out of worry for his own parents, explains the last one plainly. Ageing can involve several interacting conditions, he said, and most specialists look at one at a time. The platform should let researchers study several together.
After the build comes a multi-site study. Its job is to test whether remotely gathered data can predict falls, emergency department visits and hospitalisations, how people recover afterwards, and whether long-term remote monitoring is feasible, usable and reliable. Remote participation should also spare people the travel that puts off many from taking part, particularly those who are underserved.
Ranka says he likes theory with a use at the end of it. “I want to do theoretical research for practical applications,” he said.
Sources
- Researchers launch smartphone platform to monitor senior safety (University of Florida News)
- $3.3M Awarded to the IOA for New Study (UF Institute on Aging)
