Periodic Reporting for period 1 - e-VITA (European-Japanese Virtual Coach for Smart Ageing)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-01-01 bis 2022-06-30
In a context of increased life expectancy, innovative technology can help to support older adults in active and healthy ageing. Virtual coaching can play an important role in sustaining active and healthy ageing through early risk detection and tailored intervention in smart living environments. However, current technologies are not easily customized to individual needs, provide limited interaction, and are often intrusive.
Based on an excellent international cooperation between Europe and Japan, e-VITA proposes an innovative approach to virtual coaching that addresses the crucial domains of active and healthy ageing: cognition, physical activity, mobility, mood, social interaction, leisure, and spirituality. The e-VITA virtual coach will provide personalized recommendations based on big data analytics and social-emotional computing beyond the state-of-the-art.
The main objective of e-VITA is hence to empower older adults to better manage their own health and daily activities, resulting in improved wellbeing, independent living, and reduced risks of social exclusion of older adults in Europe and Japan.
Based on an excellent international cooperation between Europe and Japan, e-VITA proposes an innovative approach to virtual coaching that addresses the crucial domains of active and healthy ageing: cognition, physical activity, mobility, mood, social interaction, leisure, and spirituality. The e-VITA virtual coach will provide personalized recommendations based on big data analytics and social-emotional computing beyond the state-of-the-art.
The main objective of e-VITA is hence to empower older adults to better manage their own health and daily activities, resulting in improved wellbeing, independent living, and reduced risks of social exclusion of older adults in Europe and Japan.
The project started with a thorough assessment of user attitudes and daily practices increasing intrinsic capacities and wellbeing and focusing on older people as primary end users, as well as their communities. Based on the analysis of requirements and expectations from older adults in Japan and Europe combined with possible technical development and functionalities of the e-VITA platform system, usage scenarios and personalized recommendations were developed covering different domains (health prevention, emotional detection, physical activities, nutrition etc.).
On the technological side, standards have been defined to ensure interoperability between non-obtrusive technologies (devices used for e-VITA) and the network of sensors, at different levels – device, data and application level. Devices were selected and combined with an optimal sensor network to ensure better acceptance of the integrated e-VITA platform, when tested in Living Labs or in older people’s homes (a smartphone application has been developed to detect and localize human activities.
In order to ensure an exchange of data between the devices and the living environment of the older adults on the one hand, and the older adults themselves as end users on the other hand, steps have been defined for data acquisition, processing and fusion. In order to define the content of the conversation delivered by the coach dialogue system, a knowledge graph was modeled to store personal information and preferences coming from users in the areas of illness, falls and physical activities. This knowledge graph/base has been integrated to a Natural Language Understanding (NLU) system called RASA, a machine-learning tool to automate text‐and voice‐based conversations. This machine learning tool also integrated different APIs (application programming interfaces) such as WikiData from Wikipedia or Weather forecast and News. The RASA system as well as the Emotion Detection System (EDS) was integrated into the testing and integration environment of the e-VITA platform, the Digital Enabler (DE). Furthermore, to involve other stakeholders and older people’s communities or municipalities reducing the risk of social exclusion of older people, a social platform was created together with older people and linked to the DE.
Coaching technologies of the e-VITA system such as GATEBOX, NAO, CelesTE, DarumaTO, and an ANDROID robot, as well as wearables OURA Ring, uSkinPillow, and DELTADORE and ENOCEAN indoor sensors, plus a brain function measurement device for personal use (ExBrain system), the social platform and Chatbots for Exercise and Nutrition, were then tested in living labs in Germany and Japan where older people and stakeholders had an active role in shaping the development of the technologies for e-VITA they would like to experience, and this has been considered with a cultural approach. Finally, recruitment of older persons, design of a protocol and formal agreement were defined before testing and evaluating some of the technologies and sensors ready to be implemented into people’s private homes in a first feasibility study in Germany, France, Italy and Japan.
Lastly, the results from a complementary socio-economic survey from end-users, the various communication activities towards general public and businesses, the thorough analysis about the business direction to be taken by e-VITA and the analysis of the critical success factors indicators have made possible to determine first key exploitable results, which will be used for the exploitation of the project. Efforts from all partners by promoting e-VITA with communication activities to disseminate scientific work through scientific publications, participation to scientific conferences and the preparation of the mid-term conference raised awareness in the scientific community creating opportunities for the sustainability of the project in the research field.
On the technological side, standards have been defined to ensure interoperability between non-obtrusive technologies (devices used for e-VITA) and the network of sensors, at different levels – device, data and application level. Devices were selected and combined with an optimal sensor network to ensure better acceptance of the integrated e-VITA platform, when tested in Living Labs or in older people’s homes (a smartphone application has been developed to detect and localize human activities.
In order to ensure an exchange of data between the devices and the living environment of the older adults on the one hand, and the older adults themselves as end users on the other hand, steps have been defined for data acquisition, processing and fusion. In order to define the content of the conversation delivered by the coach dialogue system, a knowledge graph was modeled to store personal information and preferences coming from users in the areas of illness, falls and physical activities. This knowledge graph/base has been integrated to a Natural Language Understanding (NLU) system called RASA, a machine-learning tool to automate text‐and voice‐based conversations. This machine learning tool also integrated different APIs (application programming interfaces) such as WikiData from Wikipedia or Weather forecast and News. The RASA system as well as the Emotion Detection System (EDS) was integrated into the testing and integration environment of the e-VITA platform, the Digital Enabler (DE). Furthermore, to involve other stakeholders and older people’s communities or municipalities reducing the risk of social exclusion of older people, a social platform was created together with older people and linked to the DE.
Coaching technologies of the e-VITA system such as GATEBOX, NAO, CelesTE, DarumaTO, and an ANDROID robot, as well as wearables OURA Ring, uSkinPillow, and DELTADORE and ENOCEAN indoor sensors, plus a brain function measurement device for personal use (ExBrain system), the social platform and Chatbots for Exercise and Nutrition, were then tested in living labs in Germany and Japan where older people and stakeholders had an active role in shaping the development of the technologies for e-VITA they would like to experience, and this has been considered with a cultural approach. Finally, recruitment of older persons, design of a protocol and formal agreement were defined before testing and evaluating some of the technologies and sensors ready to be implemented into people’s private homes in a first feasibility study in Germany, France, Italy and Japan.
Lastly, the results from a complementary socio-economic survey from end-users, the various communication activities towards general public and businesses, the thorough analysis about the business direction to be taken by e-VITA and the analysis of the critical success factors indicators have made possible to determine first key exploitable results, which will be used for the exploitation of the project. Efforts from all partners by promoting e-VITA with communication activities to disseminate scientific work through scientific publications, participation to scientific conferences and the preparation of the mid-term conference raised awareness in the scientific community creating opportunities for the sustainability of the project in the research field.
PROGRESS BEYOND THE STATE OF THE ART
The e-VITA project ambition goes beyond the state of the art in domains of socio-technology support for active and healthy ageing of older people living at home in Europe and Japan:
1. New co-creation approaches for active and healthy ageing devices for and by older people;
2. Updated standards and norms for interoperability of smart living devices and trustworthy AI in Europe and Japan;
3. Semantic knowledge graphs, natural language understanding and improved dialogue systems for active and healthy ageing;
4. Privacy awareness, control and trust in federated data systems for independent living of older adults in Europe and Japan;
5. Sustainable community support and stakeholder engagement while using smart living devices and connections to related social services.
EXPECTED IMPACTS
International cooperation between Europe and Japan have been established in Period 1 of the project. We started to encourage the whole value chain starting from smart living vendors, via SMEs and R&D centres, industrial operators and communities (municipalities) and care stakeholders into the project in Europe and Japan.
User attitudes and practices have been studied thoroughly and recommendations have been developed. This process has included primary end-users (seniors) and several secondary stakeholders in Europe and Japan. Those recommendations have been also discussed with the advisory boards and the scientific community in Europe and Japan. So we still expect such an impact in a broader sense in conjunction with the upcoming proof of concept study and related evidences.
Based on an extensive use of state of the art research methods like design fiction and ethnographic analysis of cultural differences a plenty of interesting results could be generated in the first period of the project. These results will be published in the near future (if not yet done), and thus contribute to the scientific community.
The extended use of the social platform can help to foster social participation and reducing social exclusion’s risks because it is build on the local community around the older adults (NGOs and municipalities), and is also linked to the e-VITA coach.
The e-VITA project ambition goes beyond the state of the art in domains of socio-technology support for active and healthy ageing of older people living at home in Europe and Japan:
1. New co-creation approaches for active and healthy ageing devices for and by older people;
2. Updated standards and norms for interoperability of smart living devices and trustworthy AI in Europe and Japan;
3. Semantic knowledge graphs, natural language understanding and improved dialogue systems for active and healthy ageing;
4. Privacy awareness, control and trust in federated data systems for independent living of older adults in Europe and Japan;
5. Sustainable community support and stakeholder engagement while using smart living devices and connections to related social services.
EXPECTED IMPACTS
International cooperation between Europe and Japan have been established in Period 1 of the project. We started to encourage the whole value chain starting from smart living vendors, via SMEs and R&D centres, industrial operators and communities (municipalities) and care stakeholders into the project in Europe and Japan.
User attitudes and practices have been studied thoroughly and recommendations have been developed. This process has included primary end-users (seniors) and several secondary stakeholders in Europe and Japan. Those recommendations have been also discussed with the advisory boards and the scientific community in Europe and Japan. So we still expect such an impact in a broader sense in conjunction with the upcoming proof of concept study and related evidences.
Based on an extensive use of state of the art research methods like design fiction and ethnographic analysis of cultural differences a plenty of interesting results could be generated in the first period of the project. These results will be published in the near future (if not yet done), and thus contribute to the scientific community.
The extended use of the social platform can help to foster social participation and reducing social exclusion’s risks because it is build on the local community around the older adults (NGOs and municipalities), and is also linked to the e-VITA coach.