Smart robotic system aims to keep the elderly healthy, independent and engaged European societies are ageing, which increases pressures on governments and healthcare systems. The MoveCare platform will keep the elderly healthier, socially active and as contributing members of society for longer. Digital Economy © Fizkes, Shutterstock By 2030 there will be 1.4 billion people aged 60 and over. While this should be celebrated, ageing societies substantially increase pressures on governments and healthcare systems. Soon there will be more people out of the labour force than in it. A way to keep elderly members of society healthy, engaged and out of nursing homes for longer would be beneficial for all concerned. MoveCare has been developing and trialling an innovative multilevel system to be integrated into people’s homes, which will help promote activities to counteract decline and social exclusion. The system integrates a robotic platform with a network of sensors and smart objects around the home to help with monitoring. A virtual online community and activity centre not only engages the user in health-boosting exercise programmes but also provides social opportunities too. Multilayered care system “Its key characteristic is that it does not need the user to wear anything or require modifications to their habits or house,” says Alberto Borghese, professor of computer science at the University of Milan and MoveCare project coordinator. The system is based on three hierarchical layers: a monitoring and intervention layer; a virtual caregiver in the form of a service robot, and an online community to drive social engagement. Everything is connected via the MoveCare AI, which controls the system and monitors its effectiveness. The system is designed to be used in tandem with a physical human caregiver. This relationship both benefits the elderly member and helps the caregiver in certain activities, freeing up their time to help others or provide different types of care. A suite of sensors around the home is used to build up a picture of the user’s lifestyle and habits and to aid robot navigation. These include a pressure mat, presence sensors, switch-on TV sensor and others on doors. Healthy gaming During trials, exercise games proved popular. “They were implemented through simple but attractive graphics and intuitive game mechanics,” notes Borghese. “Another interesting result was that in two of the studies, a few participants made friends and continued to meet outside their involvement in the pilot projects,“ he adds. The team identified two key functions for which service robots are a must, a call for help and the ability to search for objects. These offer additional research avenues which may be explored in the future. “We have shown how nice objects and fancy design play a major role in the acceptance of digital products, and that smart objects can be really helpful for monitoring elderly decline,” explains Borghese. Among the smart objects designed by MoveCare, a smart pen was particularly successful. This is a common pen, modified to include sensors, a microcontroller and Wi-Fi transmission. The grant was fundamental, as it allowed the MoveCare project to hire young researchers, who worked across different aspects of the project. It also supported the creation of the 15 prototypes used for the pilot. Keywords MoveCare, elderly, care, system, robotic platform, labour, force
