Current Projects

VisuAAL

Project Details

Funding

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks

Grant Number

861091

Duration

2020/09/01-2023/08/31

Contact

Martin Kampel

Persons

Martin Kampel

Website

https://www.visuaal-itn.eu/

Privacy-Aware and Acceptable Video-Based Technologies and Services for Active and Assisted Living

VisuAAL is a transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral European project, addressing the secure use of video-based AAL technologies to deliver effective and supportive care to older adults managing their health and wellbeing. Researchers from the fields of Computer Science, Engineering, Healthcare, Law, Business and Sociology are building the project community.
Europe is facing crucial health and social care challenges due to the demographic shift towards an ageing population and related economic impact from increased provision of care. Innovation in Active and Assisted Living (AAL) solutions has the potential to address these healthcare and social demands while profiting from the economic opportunities driven by the Silver Economy.
Advances, in the last decade, in computational power and computer vision with reduced technology costs have given video cameras the ability of ‘seeing’, evolving their functionality to become ‘smart cameras’. This has enabled the development of vision-based intelligent systems able, not only of streaming video in real time, but of extracting useful information from visual data. However, this type of monitoring using cameras can be seen as intrusive and violating rights to privacy, because of the concern that raw video images could be observed by unauthorised viewers or stored for inappropriate use. Acceptance of such technologies is also low because they create a sense of Orwellian “Big Brother” surveillance.

The goals of this project are:

    1. to bridge the knowledge gap between users’s requirements and the appropriate use of video-based AAL technologies
    2. increase awareness and understand the context-specific ethical, legal, privacy and societal issues necessary to implement visual system across hospital, home and community setting
    3. stimulate the development of a new research perspective for constructively addressing privacy-aware video-based working solutions for assisted living.

The project aims will be achieved by providing a combination of training, non-academic placements, courses and workshops on scientific and complementary skills.

Project Partners