Project: An integrated solution to improve autonomy and life quality of elderly and people with disabilities in residential/care homes
The objective of this project is to develop an integrated solution, BJ2 System, to address the needs for autonomy, safety, communication, entertainment and cognitive training of elderly and people with disabilities (physical and/or cognitive) who live in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, or spend part of the day in day centres. _x000D__x000D_Joaquin (BJ's founder) is a person who suffers from multiple sclerosis with limited mobility in upper and lower limbs. He lives in an assisted flat in Barcelona (Spain), and despite of having a home control system installed in his home, he needs constant assistance. Like Joaquin, a percentage of people with severe disabilities (cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, ALS, dystrophy, absent limb or reduced limb function, cognitive impairment like dementia, autism spectrum disorders, profound sensorial loss, etc.) live in assisted living facilities (ASF) and nursing homes. In particular, in Spain nearly 300.000 persons live in nursing homes, 89.7 % out of them have disabilities being physical impairment the most common, and 82.6 % are older than 65 (EDAD, 2008). On the other hand the percentage of elderly people in the rest of Europe and worldwide is increasing. The proportion of the population older than 65 in Europe is projected to increase from the current 17.1% to 30.0% in 2060; that is from 84.6 million to 151.5 million (Eurostat, 2008). Consequently the demand of systems to improve the autonomy and safety at home or in ASF and nursing homes is gaining importance. _x000D__x000D_Home automation and environmental control systems are systems that can considerably help elderly and people with disabilities to improve their autonomy, by controlling elements of their room/home environment — lighting, appliances, doors, telephones, air conditioning, etc. — and their safety by managing intelligent alarm systems. However, current commercial solutions have identified problems: poor scalability, lack of interoperability, handsets and interfaces are not adequate to the final user’s needs, limited supply of services (either domotic or environmental control or alarm system)._x000D__x000D_The proposed solution implemented in BJ2 System Project will overcome the limitations of the current commercial solutions through the development of an innovative system that will be interoperable and scalable in terms of devices and services by developing a number of Plug-ins, which will enable:_x000D_1) a modular and interoperable system _x000D_2) to connect as much standard as specifically developed sensors and actuators, to deploy a range of services based on ambient intelligence (domotics, environmental control, alarms and internal messaging addressed to the caregivers), including a number of ICT-based applications for communication, entertainment and cognitive training. All this through multimodal and accessible interfaces for TV, mobile devices and PC adapted to people with severe disabilities._x000D__x000D_For instance, despite his limited mobility Joaquin could use the BJ2 System services through his mobile or PC for doing daily activities autonomously like bed lifting, ceiling hoist management, going to the bathroom, going in/out his room, controlling his room's temperature, or spending time doing activities to reinforce his cognitive skills using the room's TV, writing mails or browsing the Internet; knowing that in case of fall, leakage of urine, high temperature or any abnormal event, a message will be sent automatically to the caregiver’s mobile to warn him about the situation. _x000D__x000D_This aim will be achieved by the attainment of the following specific objectives: _x000D_- To develop the CO Control Unit (MCU), the core of the system, which includes the Plug-ins, the system's administration software and enable the communication between the system's devices and services. _x000D_- To develop the Room Control Unit (RCU) that will integrate in a single device a range of actuators and sensors to provide the environmental control and domotic services._x000D_- To develop specific actuators for motored bed, celing hoists and standard telephone, to allow the user to control autonomously these elements without requiring precise limbs mobility._x000D_- To implement an enhanced alarm system based on ambient intelligence._x000D_- To develop multimodal and accessible user interfaces for PC, mobile phone and TV that will allow _x000D_ to use the system's services regardless the user's physical and/or cognitive impairments._x000D_- To ensure that the BJ2 System matches with the following market needs:_x000D_ - Scalable in terms of services and devices so that it will work with only a few components or with the full _x000D_ set, and can be customized to the end-user needs._x000D_ - Interoperable and compatible with devices using any wireless (Wi-Fi, RF, IR, ZigBee…) or wired _x000D_ technology. _x000D_ - Reliable_x000D_ - Easy to COtain to allow minimum costs._x000D__x000D_
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Acronym
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BJ2 SYSTEM
(Reference Number: 6879)
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Duration
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01/02/2012 - 31/01/2015
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Project Topic
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BJ2 System is an interoperable, scalable and integrated solution to meet the needs for autonomy, safety, communication, entertainment and cognitive training of elderly and people with severe disabilities, in a non-intrusive and reliable manner and through a global perspective.
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Network
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Eurostars
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Call
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Eurostars Cut-Off 7
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Project partner
