IT Funk - ICT for the disabled

News

Selected news in English. More news (in Norwegian) see homepage: Nyheter.

Fall alarms by way of social media

When a person falls and is unable to get up by themselves, relevant services should be alerted as quickly as possible. The problem with falls is that it often takes a long time for help to arrive. Attempts are now being made to use technology to find ways of improving the situation.

The research institute Sintef ICT and the university NTNU, both of Trondheim, Norway, are working whereby social media technology can be used to send distress alarms, instead of today's dedicated alarm button which alerts only a designated care service provider. The research is part of the collaborative high priority EU project "Fareseeing", with 11 participants from ?? countries.

For more information read the article on Sintef's homepage. (July 8, 2012)

AAL-project "GameUp" with Norwegian partners top-ranked in Call 4

Of 107 different proposals with a total number of 812 partners that were submitted to Call 4 in 2011, the proposal “Game-based mobility training and motivation of senior citizens" (acronym "GameUp") was ranked as number one.

"GameUp" has 7 partners from 3 countries, with Spain having the lead coordinator and partners from Norway and Switzerland. Norway is represented by Northern Research Institute in Tromsø, the company Cyberlab AS in Trondheim, with Tromsdalen parish from Tromsø as end-user. (January 25, 2012)

News Archive

• Technology for a safe and independent old age

• Abilia wins 2010 Innovation Award from the Research Council

• Elderly can successfully harness ICT to sustain social interactivity

• Innovating with People - The Business of Inclusive Design

• SoundCloud - Winner of The 24 Hours Inclusive Design Challenge

• Inspiring Conference on Inclusive Design

• 2010 Design for All Award for new polling station

• Design for All - Young Talent Award to Sigrun Vik

• New guidelines for cognitive accessibility on web

AAL

IT Funk is the Norwegian partner in the European programme Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). This is a joint research and development funding programme (2008 – 2013) involving 23 European countries, 20 EU Member States and 3 Associated States. The objective of AAL is to enhance the quality of life of older people through innovative ICT-solutions, and in the process also strengthen the industrial base in Europe in this area.

For information on Norwegian participation in AAL Calls, see AAL Projects.

For more information on the AAL Joint Programme: http://www.aal-europe.eu/about-aal

AAL-projects with Norwegian partners

2012: Call 5

• eCH: eCare@home - daily life management and monitoring solution for elderly with mental disorders.
• VictoryaHome: Victorya - a robot for integrated care@home and peace of mind carers.
• PIA: Personal Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) Assistant.
• CarerSupport: Integrated Platform for Informal Carers' Training, Teleconsulting and Collaboration.

2011: Call 4

• T&Tnet: Travel & Transport solutions through emotional-social NET-working
• GameUp: Game-based mobility training and motivation of senior citizens.

2010: Call 3:

• Mylife: Multimedia technology for independence and participation for people with dementia.
• MobileSage: Situated adaptive guidance for the mobile elderly.
• InclusionSociety: Improve usability of municipal health services and give elderly easy access to the self-serve society.

2009: Call 2:

• Co-Living: Virtual collaborative social living community for elderly.
• Join-In: Senior citizens overcoming barriers by joining fun activities.
• V2ME: Virtual coach reaches out to me.

2008: Call 1:

• CAP MOUSE: Development of an oral interface for elderly and disabled persons.
• IS-ACTIVE: Inertial sensing systems for advanced chronic condition monitoring and risk prevention.
• A2E2: Adaptive ambient empowerment for the elderly.
• REMOTE: Integrated and modular system for remote health and social care for elderly living in rural and isolated areas.

Projects

Examples of IT Funk-supported projects, some of which have developed into major projects funded by EU or other international programmes:

• Empowering the Visually Impaired (VI) in the Information Society - EVIIS (pre-project)
• MEMO-planner Development Report
• THINK: Connected Car - an inclusive ICT project
• European Internet Accessibility Observatory
• Delivering Inclusive Access for Disabled or Elderly Members of the Community (DIADEM)
• Universal Design in Multimodal User Interfaces (UNIMOD)
• Enabling Technologies for People with Dementia (ENABLE)

Norwegian Policy on Accessibility and Universal Design

• Equal rights for persons with disabilites - policy presentation by the Ministry of Children and Equality
• New Anti-discrimination and Accessibility Act
• The Norwegian government's action plan for universal design and increased accessibility 2009-2013
• Plan for Universal Design (2005-2008)
  
• Website for the Action Plan for Universal Design: http://www.universal-design.environment.no/