Cristian Barrué

The i-Walker: an intelligent pedestrian mobility aid

In this paper we focus on the development of an intelligent pedestrian mobility aid that we call i-Walker for elders. This target population includes, but is not limited to, persons with low vision, visual field neglect, spasticity, tremors, and cognitive deficits. SHARE-it will provide an Agent-based Intelligent Decision Support System to aid the elders.

Assistive technologies for the new generation of senior citizens: the SHARE-it approach

In this paper, we present the SHARE-it approach to the integration of agent technology with other existing technologies to build specific intelligent and semi-autonomous assistive devices for older persons and people with disabilities (both cognitive and/or motor). In particular, we explored the benefits of the concept of situated intelligence to build mobility platforms and other artefacts that enhance the autonomy of the target user group in their daily life so that they can be self-dependent enough to autonomously live in their preferred environment.

Supported Human Autonomy for Recovery and Enhancement of Cognitive and Motor Abilities Using Agent Technologies

The goal of SHARE-it, an EU FP6 funded project, is to develop a scalable, adaptive system of add-ons to sensor and assistive technology so that they can be modularly integrated into an intelligent home environment to enhance the individuals autonomy. The system will be designed to inform and assist the user and his/her caregivers through monitoring and mobility help. Thus, we plan to contribute to the development of the next generation of assistive devices for older persons or people with disabilities so that they can be self-dependent as long as possible. We focus on add-ons to be compatible with existing technologies and to achieve an easier integration into existing systems. We also aim at adaptive systems as transparent and, consequently, as easy to use to the person as possible. Scalability is meant to include or remove devices from the system in a simple, intuitive way. SHARE-it will provide an Agent-based Intelligent Decision Support System to aid the elders.

Reducing Fall Risk with Combined Motor and Cognitive Training in Elderly Fallers

Background. Falling is a major clinical problem in elderly people, demanding effective solutions. At present, the only effective intervention is motor training of balance and strength. Executive function-based training (EFt) might be effective at preventing falls according to evidence showing a relationship between executive functions and gait abnormalities. The aim was to assess the effectiveness of a motor and a cognitive treatment developed within the EU co-funded project I-DONT-FALL. Methods. In a sample of 481 elderly people at risk of falls recruited in this multicenter randomised controlled trial, the effectiveness of a motor treatment (pure motor or mixed with EFt) of 24 one-hour sessions delivered through an i-Walker with a non-motor treatment (pure EFt or control condition) was evaluated. Similarly, a 24 one-hour session cognitive treatment (pure EFt or mixed with motor training), delivered through a touch-screen computer was compared with a non-cognitive treatment (pure motor or control condition). Results. Motor treatment, particularly when mixed with EFt, reduced significantly fear of falling (F(1,478) = 6.786, p = 0.009) although to a limited extent (ES −0.25) restricted to the period after intervention. Conclusions. This study suggests the effectiveness of motor treatment empowered by EFt in reducing fear of falling.

Using Scenarios to Draft the Support of Intelligent Tools for Frail Elders in the SHARE-it Approach

A scenario is an example narrative description of typical interactions of users with the system. Scenarios are concrete, informal descriptions, and are not intended to describe all possible interactions. This document describes the scenarios used in the SHARE-it project. These scenarios have several purposes. The main purpose of scenarios is to provide a communication tool between the user experts and the technology experts. As scenarios describe the actual deployment of the system, it encapsulates both knowledge about how the system can be useful, and also what is technically feasible. Each scenario in this document has the following items: Purpose of the scenario, User Description, Narrative Scenario, Structure of the scenario, Roles of the Agents, Role of Communication.

The impact of cognitive navigation assistance on people with special needs

The global trend of increasing longevity of modern societies is causing a growing attention to the elderly citizens. The world elderly populations needs create the conditions for deploying new types of services to sustain independence and preserve quality of life. The main effort is to achieve e-tools capable of supplying different levels of disability and of satisfying the needs of each user. We focused on one of the most common problems: mobility limitations and their correlates, with particular attention to cognition. This paper presents a real case study on the impact of mobility assistance technology in patients presenting physical and/or cognitive disabilities.

Patient driven mobile platform to enhance conventional wheelchair, with multiagent system supervisory control

This paper presents a group of intelligent mobile platforms, which can transport conventional wheelchair over them. Theses platform are supervisory controlled by a multiagent system, that support senior citizens or persons with disabilities situated in a given context (such as a Hospital) This system makes a main contribution enhancing the autonomy and mobility of the target population in the selected context and also serve as a stimuli in the rehabilitation phase.

Situated Agents and Humans in Social Interaction for Elderly Healthcare: From Coaalas to AVICENA

Assistive Technologies (AT) are an application area where several Artificial Intelligence techniques and tools have been successfully applied to support elderly or impeded people on their daily activities. However, approaches to AT tend to center in the user-tool interaction, neglecting the user’s connection with its social environment (such as caretakers, relatives and health professionals) and the possibility to monitor undesired behaviour providing both adaptation to a dynamic environment and early response to potentially dangerous situations. In previous work we have presented Coaalas, an intelligent social and norm-aware device for elderly people that is able to autonomously organize, reorganize and interact with the different actors involved in elderly-care, either human actors or other devices. In this paper we put our work into context, by first examining what are the desirable properties of such a system, analysing the state-of-the-art on the relevant topics, and verifying the validity of our proposal in a larger context that we call AVICENA. AVICENA’s aim is develop a semi-autonomous (collaborative) tool to promote monitored, intensive, extended and personalized therapeutic regime adherence at home based on adaptation techniques.

e-Tools: An agent coordination layer to support the mobility of persons with disabilities.

This paper outlines the development and integration of an agent coordination layer with a robotic platform to support senior citizens or persons with disabilities. This platform is situated in a given context (such as a Hospital) and it is intended to enhance user’s mobility and autonomy. This objective is performed in a safe and sound fashion that meets the sets of laws, norms or protocols which rule the selected context.

iTutorials for the Aid of Cognitively Impaired Elderly Population

This paper introduces the shared autonomy concept on the context of Assistive Technologies (AT), in particular using an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) to support the performance of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) while maintaining the intrinsic abilities of cognitively impaired users and relieving their respective caregivers from full time assistance. The key feature of this tutoring system is its capability to adjust the service to the user’s medical profile and his/her environmental context. We present the obtained empiric results while designing and evaluating the service on diverse scenarios with real elder volunteers having a varied range of disability profiles.