HOPE: Smart Home for elderly People

HOPE is an integrated, smart platform that enables the elderly people with Alzheimer’s disease to use innovative technology for a more independent life.

Grant Agreement Number: AAL-2008-1-099

Funded by: AAL Duration: 04/2009 – 03/2011

Challenge

Since Europe’s and worldwide population grows older, the need for care is growing and more money is spent to get it. About 50 million people have been suffering from dementia globally in recent years. Dementia causes long and oppressive suffering to patients and their relatives and imposes enormous costs on society. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) covers 60-70% of all dementia cases, no cure exists, and effective and reliable early diagnostic techniques are lacking.

Moreover, current ICT solutions are limited in the amount they can do for identified needs for people (mainly elderly) with Alzheimer’s disease. Today, there is still a significant lack of really intelligent, flexible, adaptable solutions that may accommodate current and emerging needs of AD ‘patients and carers.

Innovation

Promoting “Smart Home” for persons with Alzheimer disease, Hope aims at enhancing the quality of their life and their independence.

Action

Smart Home for Elderly People is an integrated system that enables elderly people with Alzheimer disease to use innovative technology for a more independent life, easy access to information, monitoring their health. Furthermore, it enables them to perform by themselves activities they were not able to do before and which are important for their daily personal life.

Smart Home consists of a self-operated, self-adjusted, innovative and intelligent IP Based Universal Control Box (UCB) that uses intelligence to manage the various connected subsystems and devices within the residence of the elderly people. Actually, the system monitors the elderly people who suffer from Alzheimer disease, so they do not leave the house, it reminds them to take their medicine & it turns off appliances that can be turned on accidentally.