Main description:

Active and Assisted Living (AAL) systems aim at improving the quality of life and supporting independent and healthy living of older or impaired people by using a distributed network of sensors and actuators to create a ubiquitous technological layer, able to interact transparently with the users, observing and interpreting their actions and intentions, learning their preferences and adjusting the parameters of the system to improve their quality of life and work. This book provides a comprehensive review of the technologies and applications for AAL.

Topics covered include the current state of the art of smart environments and labs from an AAL point of view; ambient and wearable sensors for human health monitoring; computer vision for active and assisted living; data fusion for identifying lifestyle patterns; interoperable enhanced living environments; reasoning systems for AAL; person-environment interaction; data analytics for enabling connected health; human gait analysis for frailty detection; fall prevention and detection; supporting activities of daily living; outdoor mobility assistance; location and orientation technologies based on WiFi systems; health, wellbeing and engagement in life through AAL; tablet-based clinical decision support system for hospitalised older adults; smart, age-friendly cities and communities; privacy and ethical issues; and human-centred design. The book concludes with a case study on the design and implementation of a smart home technological platform for the delivery of AAL services.

With a wide range of chapters from international contributors, this book is essential reading for researchers and students in academics and industry developing AAL technologies, healthcare practitioners, and engineers with an interest in the field.

Contents:

Chapter 1: Technologies and applications for active and assisted living - current situation
Part 1: Technologies for Active and Assisted Living

Chapter 2: Current state of the art of smart environments and labs from an ambient assisted living point of view
Chapter 3: Ambient and wearable sensors for human health monitoring
Chapter 4: Computer vision for active and assisted living
Chapter 5: A data fusion approach for identifying lifestyle patterns in elderly care
Chapter 6: Towards interoperable enhanced living environments
Chapter 7: Reasoning systems forAAL
Chapter 8: Person-environment interaction
Chapter 9: Data analytics for enabling connected health

Part 2: Applications for Active and Assisted Living

Chapter 10: Human gait analysis for frailty detection - quantitative techniques and procedures
Chapter 11: Fall prevention and detection
Chapter 12: Supporting Activities of Daily Living
Chapter 13: Outdoor mobility assistance-technologies helping on the way
Chapter 14: Location and orientation technologies based on Wi-Fi systems for people with disabilities in indoor environment
Chapter 15: Enabling health, well-being and engagement in life through ambient-assisted living technologies - an occupational therapist's lens
Chapter 16: Tablet-based clinical decision support system for hospitalised older adults

Part 3: Associated Issues and Case Studies

Chapter 17: Smart, age-friendly cities and communities: the emergence of socio-technological solutions in the Central and Eastern Europe
Chapter 18: Towards accessible ambient-assisted living environments
Chapter 19: Privacy and ethical issues
Chapter 20: Human-centred design with older adults: examples and recommendations for research, ideation and testing
Chapter 21: Design and implementation of a smart home technological platform for the delivery ofAAL services: from requirements to field experience
Chapter 22: Technologies and applications for active and assisted living - What's next?