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Forskningsprogrammer
IT Funk - IT for funksjonshemmede
IT Funk is The Norwegian Research Council's RTD-programme on ICT for people with disability.
Universal design and accessibility for all. The purpose of IT Funk is to contribute to accessibility for all, including persons with disability, to information and communication technology (ICT) and to society through the use of ICT. ICT-based products and services developed for the general market must be accessible and useful for everyone at reasonable prices. IT Funk pays special attention to areas where accessibility issues impact on a person's life chances, such as education, employment and basic services to citizens.
IT Funks nyhetsbrev
A2E2: Adaptive Ambient Empowerment for the Elderly
Project acronym: A2E2
Partners (6): AMSTA (The Netherlands), Mawell Ltd. (Finland), Hospital IT AS (Norway), VTT-Technical Research Centre of Finland (Finland), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Center for Advanced Media Research Amsterdam (CAMeRA), The Netherlands.
Project coordinator: AMSTA, The Netherlands.
Project manager Norway: Anders Platou, Hospital IT AS, Norway.
Primary objective: Create an innovative and adaptive solution for the prevention and management of chronic diseases among elderly people, promoting a higher quality of life and increased well-being through an increase in physical activity. The objective is to develop a tool prompting and guiding persons at risk through the life style changes essential for prevention and management of diabetes type II and cardio-vascular diseases.
Project summary: The A²E² project combines state-of-the-art psychological knowledge on elderly users' requirements for sustained behaviour change with modern ICT technology, by suggesting an adaptive ambient solution for the prevention and management of two of the most prevalent chronic diseases in the elderly. Specifically, A²E² stimulates beneficial levels of exercising in elderly individuals who are at risk to come down with diabetes type II and cardio-vascular diseases.
AAL technology suffers from a discrepancy between technological sophistication and user appreciation. To bridge this gap, A²E² proposes a new solution, which utilizes off-the-shelf technology and builds on existing dynamic infrastructures with the ability for seamless integration of new developed components and sensor devices, thus reducing the cost of future integration. Psychological models of motivational empowerment provide the theoretical basis for ICT development. The project proposes a technology which integrates input from bio-signal and ambient sensors, and tailors the output according to the individual user and acts (and reacts) to individual preferences and needs.
A²E² is suited for prevention and management of such conditions by stabilizing or even reversing them. The solution will follow an individually tailored approach, and members of the target group will be involved in the design processes from the start. Later on, A²E² will be applied to the inhabitants of a large-scale and ethnically diverse urban home environment with 30-50 participating housing units for elderly people, in order to validate the impact on physical and mental health, and quality of life. To support acceptance of A²E² technology, intelligent and intuitive user interfaces will be integrated that hide the complexity of the application from the user and make A²E² easy and attractive to use.
Project period: May 2009 - April 2012
Further information/website: www.a2e2.eu
National grant programme in Norway: IT Funk (ICT for disabled and elderly)
Read article and watch coverage of A2E2 on NRK's website in November 2011: http://www.nrk.no/vitenskap-og-teknologi/1.7880233
This document was first published 09.07.2009, and updated 25.01.2012.
