Social Challenges of Aging: Technology at the Service of People.
The EMPATHIC project contributes to respond to one of the main social challenges that demographic change poses on European society: maintaining the health, well-being and independent life of people as they age.
Longevity has been explained by attributing 75% to socio-behavioural conditions and 25% to genetic factors. From this assumption, the range of variability introduced by environmental factors is very broad and would explain, in part, the different ways of aging: from an active and positive aging to an aging with illness and dependence. In this context, the European Commission (EC) promotes technology and innovation, with particular emphasis on challenges related to aging. Furthermore, Information and communication technologies (ICT) play an important role in improving the quality of life, being able to enhance autonomy and independence and enabling the group of elders to remain active, both in the workplace and in the community.
EMPATHIC proposal is based on a conceptual and ethical framework focused on the people rights and responsibilities, which is based on principles established by the United Nations: a) Dignity, which includes privacy, informed consent, autonomy, obtrusiveness and equal access; b) Autonomy, which requires respect for self-determination of people including recognition of the heterogeneity of people and respect to their preferences; c) Participation, established as one of the pillars of active aging, together with health and safety, according to the World Health Organisation.
EMAPTHIC overall Objectives:
- Design a virtual coach (EMPATHIC-VC), to engage the healthy-senior user to enhance wellbeing through awareness of personal physical status, by improving diet and nutritional habits, by developing more physical exercise and by social activity
- Involve end-users and to reach a degree of fit to their personalised needs and requirements, derived by the coach, which will enhance their well-being
- Supply the coach with Incorporate non-intrusive, privacy-preserving, empathic, expressive interaction technologies.
- Validate the coach efficiency and effectiveness across 3 distinct European societies (Norway, Spain, and France), with 200 to 250 subjects – who will be involved from the start
- Evaluate/validate the effectiveness of EMPATHIC designs against relevant user’s personalised acceptance and affordance criteria.
- Drive the developed methodology and tools to industry acceptance and open-source access in the software engineering process of implementing socially-centred ICT products.
