Inclusive design for ageing people and the internet of things: Understanding needs

Abstract

The design for the elderly is a highly topical research theme: the progressive ageing of the world’s population over the past few years has forced us to direct our attention to problems concerning the third age, particularly on promoting a lifestyle that is not only healthy and active but also as independent as possible. These are the main topics of the HABITAT project, which is financed inside the POR FESR 2014–2020 program of the Regione Emilia Romagna in Italy. This program aims to develop and test a platform based on the Internet of Things for the realization of caring and re-arrangeable environments. This research project was the starting point that led to focus on a wider study of the methodologies for the Inclusive Design. It created an opportunity to develop wider guidelines regarding both Inclusive Design and IoT, which will be specifically tested in the same project, making it a case study.