Objectives

Two women sitting and talking in a park

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is the concept that embraces all the technological challenges in the context of Ambient Intelligence to face the problem of an aging population in Europe. AAL aims to develop the technological context in which elderly people can increase their life independence. PERSONA project firmly believes that the application of new technologies can improve the quality of life of senior citizens. For that reason, the project will validate and analyze the future impact of the application of AAL technologies in different scenarios.

In order to make the AAL a reality to empower senior citizens to live at home with autonomy, independence and safety for a long time, scientific, technical, psychological and economical/political challenges can be identified:

  • The scientific challenge is to find solutions, i.e. Ambient Assisted Living Services for social inclusion, for support in daily life activities, for early risk detection, for personal protection from health and environmental risks, for support in mobility and displacements within his neighbourhood/town, all of which make a life of freedom worth living within their families and within the society.
  • The technical challenge is to develop technical solutions, i.e. an integrated technological platform that allows the practical implementation of the Ambient Assisted Living concept for the seamless and natural access to those services indicated above, and others that may be created later, to empower the citizen to adopt ambient intelligence as a natural environment in which to live.
  • The psychological challenge is to create pleasant and easy- to- use integrated solutions, i.e. the Ambient Assisted Living Environment that motivates elderly people to adapt their lifestyle and improve their quality of life and reduce dependency.
  • The economical/political challenge is to demonstrate that the solutions found are affordable for elderly citizens living anywhere in Europe, to demonstrate to the welfare system stakeholders that the solutions are cost-effective and produce tangible benefits for all, and to demonstrate to service providers that the AAL concept is practical and sustainable and will represent, in the near future, an important segment of economical activity.

It is the objective of PERSONA project to address these four challenges in one integrated project.