The EU – AAL Mobility motivator

Gerontechnology, 2014, Vol 13 No 2, 168

M.M. Bernard, R. Bartosova, W. Breipohl, J. Chomat, V. De Leonibus, P. Enste, M. Epstein, A. Girault, P. Guin, J. Hilbert, C. Lovis, S. Merkel, E. Pasche, , S. Roelants, K. Van Den Branden, A. Verbeek, S. Vujacic, R. Wipfli, YAlayli.

EU-AAL The MobilityMotivator: Promoting mobility, autonomy and cognitive skills in an integrated multiplayer solution. Gerontechnology 2014; 13(2) p168; doi:10.4017/gt.2014.13.02.xxx.xx

 Purpose The aim of the project is to promote mobility, autonomy and cognitive skills amongst seniors, including people with chronic conditions, using two ICT solutions: An engaging indoor and outdoor participants multigenerational navigation gaming environment, and a customized videoconferencing communication with health professionals for the purpose of tele-coaching, tele-evaluations and monitoring of indicators of mobility and cognitive performances.

 Method A robust research program is being conducted in Germany, France, Switzerland and UK, with potential primary endusers (Active seniors and seniors at risk of losing their autonomy) and secondary endusers (health professionals), for better identification and understanding of their needs in these countries. A State of the Art “4D contact (verbal/non-verbal communication, and the reading/writing of shared documents)” software (Intergenerational Telementoring for people with handicaps (1) ) will be upgraded in a Living Lab environment, for the purpose of tele-coaching and educational therapy, with the objective of behavioral changes, as assessed in previous pilots (2). The application will provide accessible, customized, symmetric and synchronized interfaces, allowing for the simultaneous combination of the 4D elements. Various tele-monitoring indicators of mobility, such as a VideoConference Goniometer® for tele-measures of ranges of motion, will be integrated to a multiplayer GPS navigation game. The gaming scenarios will be customized to meet the medical needs of the participants, providing a truly innovative and fun approach to healthy living and ageing.

Results & Discussion This multidisciplinary solution requires the close collaboration of institutional and industrial research, whose approaches are different. The overall challenges reside more in the successful, user-friendly integration of relevant and validated tools, and in the selection of targeted versus universal programs, than in the innovation of single components. Commitment to business viability as well as sticking to developments which are “close to market” are on-going challenges and opportunities. The development of a dynamic interactive videoconferencing platform accessible to partners, testers and endusers, will promote collaboration on an “equal footage footing”, and the co-creation of values, paving the way to a health care mutation from services for the seniors to services with the seniors.

References

• Bernard M-M., Janson F., Flora P.K., Faulkner G. E. J., Meunier-Norman L., Fruhwirth M. Videoconference-Based Physiotherapy and Tele-Assessment for Homebound Older Adults: A Pilot. Activities, Adaptation & Aging 2009; 33:39–48,
• M-M. Bernard, M.Fruhwirth, M.Brooks, K.Oakley, X.Wang, K.Ouechni, F.Janson. Intergenerational Telementoring for the promotion of social relationships. Gerontechnology 2011: 10 (1),

Keywords: Seniors’ mobility; motivation; tele-coaching ; isolation and social integration

mmbernard@outlook.com