Ambient assisted living

摘要

The cost of formal health care and the caregiver burden introduced by the increasingly aging population pose a drasticchallenge to our society. The efforts to find solutions to address this issue have fosteredAmbient Assisted Living (AAL)as a novel technology discipline, the aim of which is to exploit the potentials provided bythe emerginginformation and communication technologies tohelp the aged and recovering people keep an active, independent and safe lifestyle in their daily routine. In recent years, the progress in health sensing, wireless communication, smart home, cloud computing, andassistive robotics has essentially helped the vision of AAL to become a reality. Many research efforts in AAL have been carried out and made significant advances in the development of AALsystems, services, and applicationsin the areas such as the daily task facilitation, mobility assistance, and the rehabilitation. The goal of this Feature Topic is to explore the recent research activities related to AAL and attract the attention of the academic and industrial communities for developing advanced and innovative methodologies and techniques of AAL.