ABSTRACT
Over the last decade, there has been considerable and increasing interest in the development of Active and Assisted Living (AAL) systems to support independent living. The demographic change towards an aging population has introduced new challenges to today's society from both an economic and societal standpoint. AAL can provide an arrary of solutions for improving the quality of life of individuals, for allowing people to live healthier and independently for longer, for helping people with disabilities, and for supporting caregivers and medical staff. A vast amount of literature exists on this topic, so this paper aims to provide a survey of the research and skills related to AAL systems. A comprehensive analysis is presented that addresses the main trends towards the development of AAL systems both from technological and methodological points of view and highlights the main issues that are worthy of further investigation.
Subject(s)
Ambient Intelligence , Assisted Living Facilities , Healthy Aging , Aged , Humans , Independent Living , Quality of Life , TechnologyABSTRACT
With the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Internet of Things (IoT) and robotic systems are closely cooperating, reshaping their relations and managing to develop new-generation devices. Such disruptive technology corresponds to the backbone of the so-called Industry 4.0. The integration of robotic agents and IoT leads to the concept of the Internet of Robotic Things, in which innovation in digital systems is drawing new possibilities in both industrial and research fields, covering several domains such as manufacturing, agriculture, health, surveillance, and education, to name but a few. In this manuscript, the state-of-the-art of IoRT applications is outlined, aiming to mark their impact on several research fields, and focusing on the main open challenges of the integration of robotic technologies into smart spaces. IoRT technologies and applications are also discussed to underline their influence in everyday life, inducing the need for more research into remote and automated applications.
