Juan Bautista Montalvá Colomer

A framework for evaluating Ambient Assisted Living technologies and the experience of the universAAL project

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies aim at supporting elderly and disabled people in their environment, with affordable, easy to use and meaningful ICT tools. Given the complexity of AAL, software platforms are needed to abstract and reuse typical functionalities. To this purpose, the universAAL project was established to create an open platform that provides a standardized approach making it technically feasible and economically viable to develop AAL solutions. In order to make AAL technologies widely accepted, high quality must be guaranteed, but measuring quality in AAL is difficult because of the variety of stakeholders, the wide set of needs addressed and the heterogeneity of the employed technologies. This paper proposes a methodological framework for evaluating AAL solutions with the aim of prioritizing evaluation needs, customizing assessment techniques and producing value for the project. The framework is based on empirical methods and on scientific-like theory building mixed with the standard ISO/IEC 25000 for software quality. It can be applied for both technical and non-technical (end-user) evaluations. To support the framework, the results of its application in universAAL are shown, i.e., how it was used at different stages of the project for assessing the results, for taking decisions and for building scientific knowledge.

Experience in Evaluating AAL Solutions in Living Labs

Ambient assisted living (AAL) is a complex field, where different technologies are integrated to offer solutions for the benefit of different stakeholders. Several evaluation techniques are commonly applied that tackle specific aspects of AAL; however, holistic evaluation approaches are lacking when addressing the needs of both developers and end-users. Living labs have been often used as real-life test and experimentation environments for co-designing AAL technologies and validating them with relevant stakeholders. During the last five years, we have been evaluating AAL systems and services in the framework of various research projects. This paper presents the lessons learned in this experience and proposes a set of harmonized guidelines to conduct evaluations in living labs.

Developing an augmentative mobile communication system

The widespread use of smartphones and the inclusion of new tech-nologies as Near Field Communications (NFC) in the mobile devices offer a chance to turn the classic Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) boards into Hi-Tech AAC systems with lower costs. This paper presents the development of an augmentative communication system based on Android mobile devices with NFC technology, named BOARD (Book Of Activities Regardless of Disabilities) that not only enables direct communication with voice synthesis, but also through SMS and expands the functionality of AAC systems allowing control of the smartphone and home appliances, all in a simple way just by bringing the phone next to the pictogram.

Developing accessible mobile phone applications: the case of a contact manager and real time text applications

Mobile phones are becoming increasingly popular and are already the first access technology to information and communication. However, people with disabilities have to face a lot of barriers when using this kind of technology. This paper presents an Accessible Contact Manager and a Real Time Text application, designed to be used by all users with disabilities. Both applications are focused to improve accessibility of mobile phones.

Evaluating the Global Public Inclusive Infrastructure: Cloud4all Evaluation Framework

Moving rapidly into digital economy expands the need for accessibility coming from the growing number of people with disabilities, in various contexts. Additionally, ubiquitous computing has amplified the need for interactive systems to be able to adapt to their context of use, enhancing their utility while preserving usability. Cloud4all project [0] aims to develop a complete new paradigm in accessibility, by replacing adaptation of individual products and services, with auto-configuration of any mainstream product or service, using cloud technologies to activate and augment any natural accessibility the product or service has, based upon a set of the user’s Needs & Preferences (N&Ps). In order to assess this goal, Cloud4all has developed an evaluation framework, as part of the User Centred Design (UCD) iterative process. This paper provides an overview of the 1st pilots’ evaluation framework, together with ideas and plans about the general framework of the pilot test.

Definition of Technological Solutions Based on the Internet of Things and Smart Cities Paradigms for Active and Healthy Ageing through Cocreation

Existing initiatives to improve physical, mental, and social condition of senior citizens, which in Europe fall under the name of Active and Healthy Ageing, are including technological paradigms as main driver for innovation uptake. Among these paradigms, Smart Cities and the Internet of Things are of utmost importance. However, these initiatives may benefit from unified visions, efforts, and frameworks when it comes to defining technological solutions that take the most of both paradigms. We have defined an iterative approach, which combines user centred design techniques, technological development approaches, and a multifaceted adaptation process, to define a solution for Active and Healthy Ageing that makes use of the two paradigms. The solution is being defined in the context of two research and innovation projects, City4Age and ACTIVAGE, during which a solution is going to be defined and evaluated in the city of Madrid. Results show how Smart Cities and Internet of Things contribute to the solution, from a user (user needs and use cases) and a service delivery (technologies, architecture, and suppliers) perspective. In conclusion, we find the cocreation framework extremely useful for the Active and Health Ageing domain, and the proposed implementation of it is functioning, although there is room for improvement.

Smart Assistive Technologies to Enhance Well-Being of Elderly People and Promote Inclusive Communities

Within the framework of the H2020 IN LIFE project we have designed and developed two ICT services related to independent living and travel that support home activities, communication, mobility and socialization. A brief overview of the Spanish pilot, in which these solutions will be tested, is presented describing the inclusion and exclusion criteria, use cases, actors, as well as the services that will be tested. The manuscript also presents the description of functionalities and characteristics of the developed ICT services.

Proposal of an Alternative HMI Mechanism for Blind Android Users Based on Media Headsets as Input/Output Peripherals

This paper introduces an alternative method of interaction over Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs), using a button enabled headset as a main Input/Output (IO) peripheral. This paper is focused on the underlying basis which is based on the results and implementation of an Android prototype once the viability for this system has been remarkably proven. Being blind Android users the initial target beneficiaries does not restrict the scope of this solution since its conceptual approach is scalable to other various systems and may be applied to mainstream users. Hence, the main objective is to create an alternative, effective and low cost mechanism for blind users or eyes free scenarios by means of the buttons built in modern media headsets; or in other words, the main motivation of this article is to present this solution as an alternative Human Machine Interaction (HMI) mechanism with the objective of proposing an elegant and comfortable way of interaction over specifically designed software; resulting in a plausible better solution for many use cases where the eyes free approach may be beneficial.

Results of the technical validation of an accessible contact manager for mobile devices

The apparition of new mobile phones operating systems often leads to a flood of mobile applications rushing into the market without taking into account needs of the most vulnerable users groups: the people with disabilities. The need of accessible applications for mobile is very important especially when it comes to access basic mobile functions such as making calls through a contact manager. This paper presents the technical validation process and results of an Accessible Contact Manager for mobile phones as a part of the evaluation of accessible applications for mobile phones for people with disabilities.