Fraunhofer-GesellschaftSmart and Independent Living for the Elderly
The goal of the “SMILEY“ project is to promote mutual support among members of intergenerational communities through an infrastructure of microsystem technology, with the inclusion of professional services.
One focus of the project is the intelligent embedding of microsystem technology in the domestic setting so as to enable persons of all ages to handle problems in their own residential environment – alone, with their local community, or with the involvement of qualified external service providers.
Individual requirements are to be taken into account in orchestrating and optimizing the composition of local social resources and services with the help of microsystem technology. The goal is the self-determination of, especially, older persons in their utilization of technology and service offerings.
Guided by these principles, the project is developing and evaluating a demonstrator for the technical support of integrated service networks. New types of algorithms for situation analysis and the provision of services are being created, along with user interfaces that meet the needs of different generations:
- Marketing models, e. g., via housing associations (product bundling),
- Models for the direct marketing of the developed solutions to private customers,
- Financing models for the services offered, on the basis of fees or rental and leasing revenue from commercial and private system users, commissions for the brokering of service agreements with external service providers, and the co-financing of individual solution components through public and private providers of health, nursing care, and accident insurance (upon proof of a gain in actuarial value).
Alongside acceptance analyses and usability studies, the “SMILEY“ project seeks to increase acceptance through an engagement with questions about ethics and data protection law, as well as the elaboration of ethical implementation guidelines for integrated service networks.
