Information and assistance bubbles to help elderly people in public environments

Abstract

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) is an emerging bundle of technologies and services that has been specially conceived to support disabled and elderly people to be more autonomous in their daily life. Support for mobility is a key aspect in AAL, and makes elderly people feel very independent and socially integrated. This paper describes an AAL solution to support elderly people outside home: provides information and assistance at the street near public buildings, and inside public buildings. The concept of bubble is proposed in this paper as a physical space where it is possible to consume to a number of local services. Presented mobility-based AAL Services are integrated with an ambient assisted home, so users perceive mobility service as an extension of the care chain beyond the boundaries of their homes.