About | Partners | Materials and Results | Updates
AUTONOMOUS, An intelligent UbiquiTOus solutioN fOr MultimOdal daily living procedUreS tracking in people with dementia
This project supports people with dementia in independently and successfully performing activities of daily living (ADL) by developing, testing, commercializing a tool that supports people with dementia in completing such tasks related to autonomy and activities of daily life via an adaptive artificial intelligence-powered interface. Take the example of Sandra and Lucas:
Sandra and Lucas share an intimate ritual. Every morning, Lucas gets up early, feeds the cat, and prepares a cup of coffee for Sandra to wake up to. She noticed something was wrong when the routine ceased. One morning, she found Lucas in the kitchen, struggling to figure out what to do with the coffee beans. Lucas was experiencing one of the first symptoms of dementia, and gradually, he could no longer independently be himself. Lucas’ neurologist suggest they try AUTONOMOUS, a system that enables people with dementia to perform daily activities independently. Lucas was glad to find out it worked on his smartwatch and that the system was so subtle that on good days, he hardly notices it. On the bad days becomes bolder, finding alternative ways to communicate with him, ensuring Lucas can still express himself through meaningful activities like preparing their coffee in the morning.
About the project
The AUTONOMOUS project strives to support people with dementia to perform daily activities independently and successfully. The project aims at creating a system that will track human actions and detect anomalies during the performance of those activities. AUTONOMOUS will enable people with dementia to complete tasks using a smartwatch by collecting information like motion, sound, and speech, and delivering instructions on what actions to perform and how to accomplish them.
Discreet and Bolder: In the early stages of dementia, the system will behave like a discreet and silent companion, learning from peoples’ behavior and environment. As they transition to the middle stages of dementia and the system detects a significant change in behavior (for example, task interruptions or omission), AUTONOMOUS supports more actively, becoming bolder, and using various cues like vibration, sound, images, and more, to adapt to peoples’ different preferences and needs.
Collaborative Design: Developing an intelligent solution along with people with dementia and their family members, caregivers, and health professionals, will enable us to characterize peoples’ real needs, gather requirements for the development, and understand the various tasks a system could offer support, the distinct ways for the system to communicate, and if it works or not. In the end, the solution will also be validated to assess its performance in supporting people with dementia completing their daily activities, thus promoting independence and quality of life.
Technology:
Smartwatch and smartphone app for people with dementia.
Desktop app for formal and informal caregivers.
Repository of tasks actively, automatically, and continuously tailored to individuals.
Uniqueness
Innovative and validated smart technology to track activities, identify moments of uncertainty, and detect deviations.
Real-time app support to complete a task, incorporated in multiple devices.
Collaboratively developed with people with dementia, allowing for personalisation of varied needs (foggy moments), disease progression (memory, language, and visual-perception impairments) and preferences (which cues they prefer).
Integrate with technology available on the market to enhance peoples’ adoption.
Discreet, non-patronizing, and non-stigmatizing support.
Goals
Significantly impact the lives of people with dementia.
Provide personalized cues to support people with dementia perform daily activities.
Benefiting individuals, their families, and society as a whole.
Improved quality of life
Less stress on caregivers
Lower care costs
Exploit the potential of technology to support people with dementia.
Delay institutionalization
Alleviating some of the responsibilities of caregivers
Restoring a degree of autonomy to the person with dementia
Relieving pressure on the budget of national health programs
Contribute to:
Understanding a person’s capability in performing daily activities
Assessing an individual with dementia’s level of independence
Crucial in making a diagnosis and evaluating changes over time