cStick 2.0: An IoMT-Edge-Based Vision-Enabled Smart System for Personalized Fall Prediction and Detection

Falls among older adults can cause serious injury and loss of independence. cStick 2.0 is a vision-enabled, IoMT-edge based smart walking-stick prototype that combines multimodal fall-risk classification with embedded obstacle awareness. The fall-risk classifiers were evaluated using a 9670-record development dataset, on which the compact DNN achieved 95.40% accuracy, 92.35% balanced accuracy, a macro F1-score of 93.90%, and a ROC-AUC of 97.44%. The Arduino Nicla Vision obstacle module used an INT8 Edge Impulse model with centroid-based direction assignment and time-of-flight distance sensing; 144 controlled trials produced 75.00% obstacle-presence accuracy at approximately 19–20 FPS. Sensor acquisition, GPS, display output, buzzer response, and CSV record accumulation were demonstrated at a prototype level. Synchronized older-adult evaluation, device-to-application communication, secure caregiver services, multimodal accessibility feedback, and longitudinal personalization remain future validation stages.