A Grand Challenge for Vision Systems: Improving the Quality of Life and Care of Aging Adults

Abstract

While computer vision has made much progress over the last decade, there is still a long way to go before it rivals the performance of a human child (Pankanti et al., 2011). Challenges in vision systems are therefore manifold. The choice of a grand challenge for vision systems dedicated to improving the quality of life and care of aging adults is due to its high relevance for current and future society facing enormous demographic changes. According to the Strategic Research Agenda of the Joint Programming Initiative “More Years and Better Lives,” 65-year-olds are likely to be healthier and more active than their parents were at the same age, and the proportion of people aged over 80 is rising rapidly. This may help offset the effects of aging in some counties or regions, but it brings its own challenges. Precisely, one of these challenges is to enhance the quality of life and care of older people (Bowling and Brazier, 1995). Quality of life is defined as the perceived quality of the daily life of an individual and the appreciation of being a human being. It integrates emotional, social, and physical aspects of a person’s life. Moreover, the quality of life and care also assesses how illness or disability affects welfare, therefore adequate individual monitoring is essential. It is widely recognized that aging people generally prefer living in their own homes to other options (e.g., Pynoos et al., 2010; Carswell, 2012; Vasunilashorn et al., 2012). However, it is difficult to provide the necessary security and home care without monitoring, especially when the old person encounters difficulties. Vision systems, supplemented by other sensing systems, can provide a solution to several problems that the elderly face at home. Vision Systems Theory, Tools, and Applications was born with the aim to collect valuable scientific and technological proposals in this ever-growing field of robust people monitoring.