User Perceptions and Needs Analysis of a Virtual Coach for Active and Healthy Ageing-An International Qualitative Study.

Virtual coaching systems show great potential for meeting the challenges of demographic change. However, the proportion of older users in the field of digital technologies is far behind that of younger people. As part of the e-VITA project, semi-structured interviews were conducted in Japan, France, Italy and Germany with 58 people aged 65 and over, and the content was analyzed with the aim of obtaining information about how older adults organize their everyday lives, also with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, how they deal with their health, what role digital technologies play in the lives of the interviewees and why they oppose progressive digitization. Second, the survey asked why the older adults oppose a virtual coach, which is to be developed in the e-VITA project to support older adults in healthy and active aging, and what barriers they see in a possible implementation. It was found that older respondents lead active, varied lives and that the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the increased use of digital solutions. In addition, respondents were consciously addressing their own health. With regard to a virtual coach, barriers were seen primarily in the area of data security and sharing. It can be concluded from this that heterogeneity among older user groups should be taken into account when developing virtual coaches. In addition, aspects of data security and data protection should be presented in a clearly understandable and transparent manner.

WisdomOfAge: Designing a Platform for Active and Healthy Ageing of Senior Experts in Engineering

The European population is undoubtedly ageing at an accelerating pace and by 2050;the number the elderly people will increase with almost 50% compared with 2019 numbers. Under the current legislation, the retirement age within most EU countries is 65, when many people are still able to perform within their profession at a decent level due to their knowledge and vast experience. The paper focuses on the design of a digital platform through which the retired seniors are able share their expertise with the younger generations, thus providing a useful, safe, and friendly environment that also addresses current challenges generated by the COVID-19 pandemics. The paper presents the analysis of the most important user needs and challenges that come with the age, sets the main pillars to be considered in the development of the application, both related to the overall architecture and main functions, and the user interface characteristics. A modular user focused design of the digital platform is proposed, by emphasizing its main functions, namely, to provide the means of a seamless interaction and an improved user experience. Artificial intelligence agents will be integrated to improve the matchmaking process by relying on the overall experience during training sessions. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

The Iterative Model of Ethical Analysis for Large-Scale Implementation Of ICT Solutions.

This manuscript presents a model and the methodology to understand and define the ethical management of the large-scale implementation of ICT solutions for Active and Healthy Ageing. Based on project expertise, including experience from the Pharaon project Horizon 2020, this model includes an understanding of the main ethical challenges and the development of the necessary guidelines, measures, and tools for different stakeholder profiles. This model extends beyond conventional ethical guidelines, providing a methodology to actively discuss ethical and societal challenges within a project based on interactive and iterative dialogue between the entire value-chain of stakeholders. One of the cornerstones in the analysis of challenges is focused attention on policy and societal issues that emerge during a project. Accordingly, the model includes targeted reflections and tools delivered in the context of the recent Covid-19 pandemic. The tools developed in this process are organised in a guide that can be actively used throughout large-scale implementation projects related to ICT solutions.