Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Sometimes devices and services related to AAL do not reflect the real needs of the
end users and for this reason they are considered useless and unsatisfactory. In most
cases, this is caused by a misunderstanding of the aims and requirements of the systems
and services. This phenomenon can be avoided by studying in depth the reality of the
elderly and people who are not self-sufficient and by directly involving end users in
every stage of the design. Adaptable and personalized user-friendly interfaces
integrated into real-life environments are necessary. All stakeholders should be aware
that user involvement is the key for a technological, innovative and business success in
AAL - from the initial concept through systems design and integration to the prototypes
and business models. Questions of design and usability are of similar importance to
AAL products and the involvement of design and usability experts is also essential for
developments that seek a more than minor survival chance in the real world outside the
laboratory. Design and usability concepts should not become substitutes for real-user
involvement. Only a few R&D projects in Europe have tackled this issue in depth and
secured the involvement of users to a full extent (Best Practices in Europe on ICT
enabled living for elderly 2008). Living laboratories are one way of developing and
implementing user-driven approaches in product and service development. Moreover,
during every stage of product development, systems and services designers should
remember that their end users have characteristics and skills that can also vary over
time. Every person and his or her conditions are different and constantly changing.
Systems therefore need to be highly configurable and flexible in terms of the evolution
of the person, changing conditions and multiple diseases and diversity in (care)
organisation. In general approaches should be people-centred and life-course based.
Such a holistic approach also means that other scientific disciplines must be involved in
the research, such as gerontechnology, for the knowledge of age-related changes in
human functions, and social, environmental and technological innovations and support
in a community-based setting (“integrated community”), for moving from older people
as care customers to older people as members of a community.
From a more technological point of view, organisations that develop devices and
services suffer in their work from a lack of standards and references for designing the
systems. These include:
domain models that are concepts, functions and qualities for AAL systems to
make explicit the demands and contributions;
•
open-reference architecture that facilitates the efficient integration of diverse
assistance devices and services into personalized, trusted and manageable
assistance solutions;
•
standardized solutions for the unobtrusive, affordable sensing of context
(location, activity, vital data);
•
advanced user-interfaces that can be adapted to the changing needs of users;
•
guidelines for privacy and security of data management;
•
system management and interoperability of heterogeneous components.
•
Moreover, a generic AAL service platform based on certain standards as the basis
for third party application development is also missing. This would stimulate the
products and service market development tremendously.
