The SHAPES Smart Mirror Approach for Independent Living, Healthy and Active Ageing

The benefits that technology can provide in terms of health and support for independent living are in many cases not enough to break the barriers that prevent older adults from accepting and embracing technology. This work proposes a hardware and software platform based on a smart mirror, which is equipped with a set of digital solutions whose main focus is to overcome older adults’ reluctance to use technology at home and wearable devices on the move. The system has been developed in the context of two use cases: the support of independent living for older individuals with neurodegenerative diseases and the promotion of physical rehabilitation activities at home. Aspects such as reliability, usability, consumption of computational resources, performance and accuracy of the proposed platform and digital solutions have been evaluated in the initial stages of the pilots within the SHAPES project, an EU-funded innovation action. It can be concluded that the SHAPES smart mirror has the potential to contribute as a technological breakthrough to overcome the barriers that prevent older adults from engaging in the use of assistive technologies.Los beneficios que la tecnología puede brindar en términos de salud y apoyo para la vida independiente en muchos casos no son suficientes para romper las barreras que impiden que los adultos mayores acepten y adopten la tecnología. Este trabajo propone una plataforma de hardware y software basada en un espejo inteligente, la cual está equipada con un conjunto de soluciones digitales cuyo enfoque principal es superar la reticencia de los adultos mayores a usar tecnología en el hogar y dispositivos portátiles en movimiento. El sistema se ha desarrollado en el contexto de dos casos de uso: el apoyo a la vida independiente de personas mayores con enfermedades neurodegenerativas y la promoción de actividades de rehabilitación física en el hogar. Aspectos como la fiabilidad, la usabilidad, el consumo de recursos informáticos, el rendimiento y la precisión de la plataforma y las soluciones digitales propuestas se han evaluado en las etapas iniciales de los pilotos del proyecto SHAPES, una acción de innovación financiada con fondos europeos. Se puede concluir que el espejo inteligente SHAPES tiene el potencial de contribuir como un avance tecnológico para superar las barreras que impiden que los adultos mayores se involucren en el uso de tecnologías de asistencia

Parkinson's Disease Management through ICT

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that manifests with motor and non-motor symptoms. PD treatment is symptomatic and tries to alleviate the associated symptoms through an adjustment of the medication. As the disease is evolving and this evolution is patient specific, it could be very difficult to properly manage the disease.The current available technology (electronics, communication, computing, etc.), correctly combined with wearables, can be of great use for obtaining and processing useful information for both clinicians and patients allowing them to become actively involved in their condition.Parkinson's Disease Management through ICT: The REMPARK Approach presents the work done, main results and conclusions of the REMPARK project (2011 – 2015) funded by the European Union under contract FP7-ICT-2011-7-287677. REMPARK system was proposed and developed as a real Personal Health Device for the Remote and Autonomous Management of Parkinson’s Disease, composed of different levels of interaction with the patient, clinician and carers, and integrating a set of interconnected sub-systems: sensor, auditory cueing, Smartphone and server. The sensor subsystem, using embedded algorithmics, is able to detect the motor symptoms associated with PD in real time. This information, sent through the Smartphone to the REMPARK server, is used for an efficient management of the disease