I-CARE-SMART Regional pilots
In this page we present an overview of the Regional pilots on co-creation realized in the I-CARE-SMART framework.
Austria - City of Graz
SPROUT
To fulfill the wish of seniors to stay mobile even with impairments we work together with the team of DARWIN BIOMEDICAL in further developing their prototype of the smart rolling walker “SPROUT”. The smart rolling walker focusses on :
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Preventing falls and giving
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active assistance to their users.
During the pilot action, we focus on the phases of understanding the user needs, conceptualizing those needs together with seniors and experts and testing the prototype with users. It was a great experience for us to see how user centered development can be part of the daily life. And last but not least we can definetely say that fun is an important part of co-creation!
MEMOREBOX
With their solution, “Memorebox” the company Retrobrain R&D developed an easy-to-use therapeutic gaming software solution which should (i) reduces the risk of falling, and (ii) reduces cognitive decline and promote social inclusion. During the pilot we work together in further developing the gaming content for the Austrian customer market in focusing on the phase of understanding the user needs, conceptualizing those needs together with seniors and experts and testing the product to be used more independently. It was very valuable to see how many technical details are influencing user experiences and how much you have to be aware, if you want to develop your product according to user needs. Playing Memore with a group of seniors and reflecting our experiences with the team of Retrobrain was the most outstanding part for us.
Czech Republic - Prague
AJPACH
Cognitive impairment is one of the main threats that seniors have to face. That is one of the reasons why tablet application AJPACH developed by Principal engineering was chosen to be tested in our pilot project. AJPACH is aimed to postpone the more serious phases of cognitive problems by means of cognitive training and to serve as a diagnostical tool by means of future development prediction based on cognitive skills testing. The real life testing of the device within the environment of a day care center for clients with cognitive impairment took two months and focused on 5 validation objectives :
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Usability for the end-users.
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Usability for the caregivers.
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Usability and benefits for social care providers.
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Long-term atractiveness of the contents.
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Feasible pricing model for the device.
During the testing period the device was used almost daily by 10 users with different level of cognitive problems assisted by caregivers. Everyday experience was recorded in a template created for that purpose and evaluated at joint evaluation sessions with the company representatives.
VR Senior Pack
Where old age is connected to lack of mobility and isolation, virtual reality is able to provide stimulation inaccesible in reality. VR Senior Pack developed by Virtual Lab is a set of VR applications for seniors aiming at overcoming social isolation, mental and physical stimulation and disconnection from stereotypical environment. During the pilot project with Virtual Lab our aim was to enrich the package with a new application mediating musical contents to the end-users. The goal of our cooperation was to define the environments, genres and concrete pieces of music popular with the elderly facing reduced mobility and social isolation. By direct involvement of the end –users and activation workers a chart of most popular songs of three favourite genres for two VR environments was prepared. Additionally a feedback on a new application in the set targeted on severely immobile clients is being collected by recording experince of 6 selected users.
Hungary - Municipality of Ujbuda
CleverGuard
The CleverGuard system is a new smart home monitoring solution for the elderly and their carers. It measures and analyses the household's electricity consumption to derive the daily life activities of the residents, using an easily adaptable, low-cost smart meter. The meter detects short and long term deviations from the daily/weekly routine. Depending on the urgency, user-friendly and secure notifications or alerts are sent to relatives and/or official caregivers. Due to its non-visible nature, the solution is non-stigmatising and promotes safety and peace of mind for all concerned. Using NILM technology and built-in machine learning based data analytics, the system provides protection against critical situations, early warning of impending risks and information on occupants' activity (health). The process used follows the UCD methodology, involving older people living alone at home, their informal and formal carers. End-users are actively sought at all stages of the project and their feedback is used to design and implement CleverGuard.
CoVCAP
With the support of the system, staff and volunteers from social and charitable organizations can help the elderly and people with reduced mobility to solve their daily problems. They can accompany them to medical examinations, help with the purchase of basic items (food, medicine), or even provide mental health support. For all this, the CoVCAP IT system supports helpers with a wide database in its IT system, such as route planning to facilitate the use of public transport using the BKK Courier system. The services of the CoVCAP IT system can be accessed after registration by both those who need assistance and volunteers. The eligibility of the former can be verified with the help of the municipality, while the eligibility of the latter can be ensured by a short training and, of course, by taking out liability insurance.
Mental Wellness
Playfulness is a proven tool for motivating people in many areas of life, including for "maintaining" mental (and to a lesser extent motor) skills. The use of computer games goes beyond entertainment: they can also contribute to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of neurological disorders. The BME Human Ltd. has developed a number of easy-to-use computer games for the elderly target group that run in a web browser. A key advantage is that data can be extracted during the tasks, which can be used to infer changes in the player's mental state over a longer period of time. Additional benefits of their use include the possibility of stimulating activity and building relationships with other players. Practical applications include: cognitive training (prevention); change monitoring, screening (early detection), activity monitoring and signalling (identification of cases requiring intervention), habituation to the use of digital tools and the internet.
ForeStream
ForeStream is a system that can recognize and measure the early signs of dementia with the analysis of movement data therefore helping in prevention and early treatment. Beside the main function, the system offers extra features such as fall detection, unusually long inactivity detection and intruder alert as well.
Incare
INCARE - Integrated Solution for Innovative Elderly Care offers fully integrated and validated solutions for health monitoring, home automation, indoor fall detection, personal agenda with reminders, alerts, caregiver administrative tools (e.g. administrative tools for several users, sensor settings, user profiles). Last but not least, pilot studies with users from 3 different countries complemented with smaller scale testing in Romania will help both INCARE development and its market strategy to take into account various backgrounds and cultures.
Medistance
This service is a framework that provides a platform for recording and evaluating the results measured by various smart health devices. It is able to record the results of smart devices such as blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, ECG etc., store them in a time series and give the possibility to doctors, relatives to view and evaluate the data. It uses GSM-based data transmission and records the results in an SAP-based system.
Monitoringbook
24 hour surveillance and immediate aid without moving into elderly homes. With the MonitoringBook Home application, elderly people in need of supervision do not have to get out of the familiar environment. Elderly people can remain autonomous, and the care center can immediately inform them if they are threatened with trouble. It allows you to access the event signals of a wide range of equipment from anywhere at any time. Each alarm can be display on the graphic surface in real time, the earlier data can be immediately queried and the remote-monitored equipment can be remotely controlled.
Italy - Regione Liguria
NEAR2U
Near2U is a joint collaboration between Teseo and Humanavox, two startups from Genoa that are changing the way we take care of older adults and people affected by chronic conditions. We are bringing together Teseo's proprietary localization technology , Humanavox's platform for condition management, and local caregivers, in order to empower all our end users to live Genova to its fullest. During the pilot the two companies have been supported to:
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Collect data about users habits and lifestyle;
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Validate the assumption of users’ needs;
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Validate the acceptability of the solution.
Poland - Lodzkie Region
SeniorAPP
SeniorApp is a mobile phone app for senior citizens and their families helping them find help with everyday issues and care quickly. “SeniorApp - help within reach” aim is implementation of a business model based on innovation by means of starting SeniorApp application compatible with mobiles, tablets and computer websites. SeniorApp is a platform to cross technological barriers in a simple and intuitive system of everyday help for the elderly and handicapped people according to “Technology for the elderly” rule. We want the ones in need to quickly, easily and safely find help and support in their neighborhood at the same time we wish to enable people willing to offer their help, activate the unemployed and give them a chance for additional income. We care for full transparency and absolute security of both sides. We want to break barriers of inaccessibility to technology.
Slovakia - Kosice Region
Institute of Active Housing
The Pilot in Slovakia is focused on supporting the Institute of Active Housing in the process of developing the Center for support of social rehabilitation in Obišovce. It brings together people and professionals who share the common idea of “active housing”. The ambition of the IAB is to research and analyse new concepts in the field of social housing and to create networks and strategic plans to implement innovative models of housing in our country. Through their activities, IAH primarily focuses on seniors and people who are at risk of social exclusion and marginalization. The Center for Support of Social Rehabilitation is designed to be a key tool to support the independence of seniors. The pilot implemented in the Košice region included the organisation of 3 co-creation sessions with regional stakeholders in the field of elderly care and technologies that help seniors.
