A different approach in an AAL ecosystem: a mobile assistant for the caregiver

Currently the Ambient Assisted Living and the Ambient Intelligence areas are very prolific. There is a demand of security and comfort that should be ensured at people’s homes. The AAL4ALL (ambient assisted living for all) pro-ject aims to develop a unified ecosystem and a certification process, allowing the development of fully compatible devices and services. The UserAccess emerges from the AAL4ALL project, being a demonstration of its validity. The UserAc-cess architecture, implementation, interfaces and test scenario are presented, along with the sensor platform specially developed for the AAL4ALL project.Project "AAL4ALL", co-financed by the European Community Fund FEDER, through COMPETE - Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade (POFC). Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Lisbon, Portugal, through Project PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2013 and the project PEst-OE/EEI/UI0752/2014. Project CAMCoF - Context-aware Multimodal Communication Framework funded by ERDF -European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028980

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a conceptual framework for the design, development and evaluation of AAL Services for older adults

Abstract. The paper presents the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a comprehensive model for a holistic approach for the design, development and evaluation of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) services for older adults. ICF can be used to systemize the information that influence individual's performance and to characterize users, theirs contexts, activities and participation. Furthermore, ICF can be used to structure a semantic characterization of AAL services and as a basis to develop methodological instruments for the services evaluation

A Worldwide Overview of the Wellness Economy Market: The Technogym and Peloton Case Studies

A stressful and unbalanced lifestyle leadsto a marked decrease in wellbeing levels from a different point of view. The generation of baby boomers and generation X have suffered more and more from this modern style. Today, generation Y (Millennials) seems to be much more interested and sensitive in this field. They also proactively seek to find an adequate solution by investing one of the most precious personal assets which is their free time. Considering the growing demand for well-being, the wellness economy is becoming more and more popular. It is a market of about $ 4.5 trillion dollars, divided into well-defined segments or macro-areas market, steadily growing from 2015 onwards. The boundaries are difficult to define today due to its numerous cross-growth opportunities. After a wide description of the wellness economy, this paper focuses on introducing the role of connected fitness to analyze its component and dynamics. Using a case study methodology, supported by a SWOT analysis, two of the most relevant players in this market were analyzed based on strengths, weakness, and future developments. The results show a situation where the two competitors are balanced and have a clear strategy for their expansion, even though they cannot count on all customer groups

A Smart Kitchen for Ambient Assisted Living

The kitchen environment is one of the scenarios in the home where users can benefit from Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) applications. Moreover, it is the place where old people suffer from most domestic injuries. This paper presents a novel design, implementation and assessment of a Smart Kitchen which provides Ambient Assisted Living services; a smart environment that increases elderly and disabled people’s autonomy in their kitchen-related activities through context and user awareness, appropriate user interaction and artificial intelligence. It is based on a modular architecture which integrates a wide variety of home technology (household appliances, sensors, user interfaces, etc.) and associated communication standards and media (power line, radio frequency, infrared and cabled). Its software architecture is based on the Open Services Gateway initiative (OSGi), which allows building a complex system composed of small modules, each one providing the specific functionalities required, and can be easily scaled to meet our needs. The system has been evaluated by a large number of real users (63) and carers (31) in two living labs in Spain and UK. Results show a large potential of system functionalities combined with good usability and physical, sensory and cognitive accessibility

A caregiver support platform within the scope of an ambient assisted living ecosystem

The Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) area is in constant evolution, providing new technologies to users and enhancing the level of security and comfort that is ensured by house platforms. The Ambient Assisted Living for All (AAL4ALL) project aims to develop a new AAL concept, supported on a unified ecosystem and certification process that enables a heterogeneous environment. The concepts of Intelligent Environments, Ambient Intelligence, and the foundations of the Ambient Assisted Living are all presented in the framework of this project. In this work, we consider a specific platform developed in the scope of AAL4ALL, called UserAccess. The architecture of the platform and its role within the overall AAL4ALL concept, the implementation of the platform, and the available interfaces are presented. In addition, its feasibility is validated through a series of tests.Project “AAL4ALL”, co-financed by the European Community Fund FEDER, through COMPETE—Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade (POFC). Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Lisbon, Portugal, through Project PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2013. Project CAMCoF—Context-Aware Multimodal Communication Framework funded by ERDF—European Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE Programme (operational programme for competitiveness) and by National Funds through the FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028980. This work is part-funded by National Funds through the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) within project PEst-OE/EEI/UI0752/201

Multimedia sensors embedded in smartphones for ambient assisted living and e-health

The final publication is available at link.springer.com[EN] Nowadays, it is widely extended the use of smartphones to make human life more comfortable. Moreover, there is a special interest on Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) and e-Health applications. The sensor technology is growing and amount of embedded sensors in the smartphones can be very useful for AAL and e-Health. While some sensors like the accelerometer, gyroscope or light sensor are very used in applications such as motion detection or light meter, there are other ones, like the microphone and camera which can be used as multimedia sensors. This paper reviews the published papers focused on showing proposals, designs and deployments of that make use of multimedia sensors for AAL and e-health. We have classified them as a function of their main use. They are the sound gathered by the microphone and image recorded by the camera. 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Anbefaling på valg av standarder/rammeverk for velferdsteknologi

Velferdsteknologi kan gi mange, uansett alder, mulighet for å bo hjemme under trygge forhold dersom man blir syk, behøver omsorg eller bare ønsker mulighet til å bo hjemme i en sen fase i livet

Plataforma integradora de serviços em tempo real baseada em tecnologia OSGi

Dissertação de mestrado em Engenharia InformáticaEste projeto tem o objetivo principal de melhorar a qualidade de vida de pessoas idosas, com deficiências físicas ou psicológicas. Quando ficam em casa sozinhas são privadas de uma vida autónoma e ativa o que leva à necessidade de uma monitorização continua. Tendo em consideração a crescente disponibilidade de dispositivos interativos num ambiente doméstico abre-se uma porta para necessidade de sistemas de integração e fusão de sensores. Uma plataforma inteligente de monitorização capaz de comunicar com os vários dispositivos prova a sua utilidade ao ser capaz de tornar as pessoas mais autónomas proporcionando aos familiares e amigos mecanismos de monitorização ajustados conforme o perfil do utilizador em caso de ausência. Pretende-se desenvolver um sistema que possa ser implementado num dispositivo central que estabeleça a comunicação entre os diferentes dispositivos e sistemas electrónicos, seja capaz de integrar serviços em tempo real e registe o seu estado em determinado momento. Tem o intuito de aproveitar todos os aparelhos e serviços que as pessoas já possuem, evitando assim um gasto monetário exagerado tendo em conta o estado económico existente e a capacidade monetária dos utilizadores. Estes sistemas electrónicos ou dispositivos podem ser, por exemplo, um sistema de ar condicionado, capaz de adequar a temperatura à preferível pelo utilizador, ou um sistema de iluminação com capacidade de regular a intensidade da luz e assim reduzir nas despesas. Estes sistemas implicam uma melhoria em termos de qualidade de vida do utilizador ao providenciar automatismos inteligentes no seu dia-a-dia.This project has the main goal of improving the quality of live of elderly people with physical or psychological disabilities. When they stay at home alone they are deprived of an independent and active life and which leads to the need for continuous monitoring. Taking into account the increasing availability of interactive devices in a home environment, opens a door for the need of integration systems and sensor fusion. An intelligent monitoring platform capable of communicating with multiple devices proves its utility in being able to make people more autonomous, providing to the family and friends monitoring mechanisms adjusted as the user's profile in case of absence. The aim is to develop a system that can be implemented in a central device to establish communication between different electronic devices and systems, capable of integrating services in realtime and record their status. Aims to take advantage of all the devices and services that people already have, thus avoiding spending money exaggeratedly, given the existing economic and monetary capacity of users. These electronic systems or devices can be, for example, an air conditioning system capable of adjusting the temperature preferred by the user and lighting system capable of regulating the light intensity and thus reduce the costs. These systems imply an improvement in quality of life of the user by providing intelligent automation in their day-to-day.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Projeto FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-028980.Projeto CAMCoF - Context-aware Multimodal Communication Framework.FEDER através do Programa Operacional Fatores de Competitividade - COMPETE