ICARENET

"Intelligent Context-Aware Systems for Healthcare, Wellness, and Assisted Living"

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Context awareness has the potential to revolutionise the way people interact with information technology. Whereas conventional computers merely interpret explicit user input, context-aware systems analyse and automatically respond upon users’ behaviour and situation he/she is in. This enables electronic systems to assist users in situations in which the use of conventional computers and mobile devices is out of question. A particularly relevant field are healthcare, wellness, and assisted living (HWA) applications, which is at the focus of the proposed network. Research on context awareness has continued to intensify in the last decade due to the availability of cheap sensing technologies and mobile systems. Still, building reliable context-aware systems that can deal with complex real-life situations and environments remains an open research challenge and requires a multi-disciplinary effort. iCareNet will make a decisive contribution towards solutions, leveraged through an interdisciplinary perspective ranging from sensing and sensor integration, to human-computer interaction and social factors involved in the deployment of context-aware applications. Robust and scalable system architectures and design methodologies are the principal objective of all iCareNet efforts. iCareNet unites efforts of an interdisciplinary network of leading European research groups and a strong industrial participation. Researchers will receive comprehensive inter-domain training through a series of network-wide training events on topics including signal processing, behaviour inference techniques, privacy and security, and social aspects. A number of measures including the establishment ERASUMS partnerships, formal recognition of lectures, and the design of long-term joint Ph.D. programs will ensure that the network leads to long-lasting collaborations and benefits for the involved institutions.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Intensive training of researchers will help develop sophisticated technologies to advance assisted living and promote well-being both in health care settings and at home.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Context-aware technology such as sensor-based devices is evolving rapidly, particularly in the health care, wellness and assisted living (HWA) sector. It holds much promise in checking remotely on users such as the frail or elderly, informing caregivers or relatives in case of urgent or emergency situations.

The EU-funded project http://www.icarenet.eu (ICARENET) (Intelligent context-aware systems for healthcare, wellness, and assisted living) is researching the latest in these systems and the technological challenges involved. It is thoroughly studying context-aware systems that are worn on a person or placed in a room, from sensor pattern analysis and recognition to behaviour modelling and system interaction. This also involves looking at the privacy and security aspects of such systems.

In effect, the project team is working on developing the next generation of assistive systems to boost care options and effectiveness. It is enhancing training of researchers in the field through multidisciplinary education of fellows, enabling them to advance context-aware technology for HWA applications.

ICARENET has already brought together a team of experts from industry and academia to train 19 fellows and prepare them for enterprising careers. This involves a multidisciplinary approach to develop the technology and an intensive research programme.

The project has made significant progress in achieving its objectives so far, backed by numerous lectures, workshops, events, demonstrations, reports and joint publications. It has also supported fellows in launching PhD research projects, in addition to building strong training partnerships.

Many papers have been published on the topic and more are set to be published soon. With such intense research, the latest context-aware systems and technologies are set to help individuals and patients in the HWA sector significantly. This will likely ease the burden not only on hospitals and care professionals, but also on patients and families as the new technologies and prototypes hopefully become mainstream.