Future Care Lab

Assistive technology (AT) systems and technology-assisted care services, often referred to under the umbrella term Ambient Assisted Living (AAL), have the potential to enable people in need of care to lead a self-determined life – for as long as possible – in their own homes. They can also contribute to the efficient use of scarce resources in nursing care.

The IMTT has set up the “Future Care Lab” (FCL) at the HFU in order to ensure that AAL systems can be developed as required and successfully transferred into practice: As an interdisciplinary research platform, the FCL enables the comprehensive development, integration and evaluation of AT systems and services involving users.

The FCL is and can be used for

• user-centered design and development workshops
• scenario-based tests and evaluation studies under realistic conditions
• system integration tests
• consulting, training and further education

The technologies integrated into the FCL include smart home components (sensors and actuators), active lighting systems, touch, speech and gesture-controlled systems, 2D and 3D localisation systems, portable vital sensors and last but not least, assistance robotics. In addition, the FCL also offers a comprehensive range of low-threshold aids and rehabilitation technology. Through a holistic system integration, an intelligent home control system can perceive the occupant’s activities and conditions as well as hazardous situations and intervene by appropriately assisting him or her.

In order to support continuous R&D, applications that have reached a corresponding maturity through development and evaluation in the laboratory can be installed in suitable residential units and tested directly in the field in a later phase. In this way, special applications in the residential environment of affected persons, e. g. in facilities with assisted living, can also be investigated in a realistic way.

*The contents were created within the framework of HFU student research projects.

**Not all of the scenarios described here correspond to the current state of the art in the FCL.