Ambient assisted living and digital inclusion: overview of projects, services and interfaces

The last decades have been characterized by great advances in the field of information and communication technologies and innovative applications and services have been developed in all sectors. People who are more familiar with Internet technologies can take full advantage of the benefits brought by the new systems to everyday life, but, at the same time, if services are not carefully designed, they contribute to augment the digital gap between “info-skilled” users and people who are not acquainted with the new technologies. This paper provides an overview of interesting projects developed with the aim to favor social inclusion and to tear down barriers posed by digital technology, by supporting people with special needs (e.g., elderly and people with different impairments) in the fruition of e-services through easy forms of interactions. The study is restricted to solutions that envisage the TV device as the main user interface for supporting Ambient Assisted Living. From the survey, a basic set of services and interfaces, here described, appear to be fundamental for improving digital and social inclusion, but the design methodology for developing TV-based interfaces and services must be carefully chosen to reduce social marginalization