"Robotically Rich" Environments for Supporting Elderly People at Home: the RoboCare Experience

Abstract

The aim of the ROBOCARE project is to develop an intelligent domestic environment which allows elderly people to lead an independent lifestyle in their own homes. This paper describes a testbed environment which simulates the home of an elderly person whose daily routines need to be monitored by human caregivers such as physicians or family members. We focus on the issue of how to enhance the robotic, sensory and supervising components of the system in order to achieve an environment which is at the same time pro-active and non-invasive. 1