Research project

GREAT

Get Ready for Activity – Ambient Day Scheduling with Dementia

In our project, we aim to develop and implement scalable, adaptive and affordable solutions for tackling one of the most challenging aspects of providing care for people with dementia, i.e. developing daily routines and activities that are meaningful, doable and specified by them and their carers. GREAT also addresses behavioural challenges such as agitation and apathy.
This is to be achieved with controllable mood lighting based on optical motion sensors to capture the activation level of a group e.g. in specialised dementia care unit (SCU), and adapt the lighting so as to get people into the mood for walking, eating, interacting or sleeping. In the case of private households, mobile physiometers will be used for the automatical search loop to find the appropriate room ambience.
For reinforcing the impact, we will combine lighting with sound and scents to develop a high-tech sensory room and thus enhance people’s wellbeing. Thanks to the underlying KNX standard, additional sensors and actuators can be integrated easily into existing home automation systems. 
Integration also applies to the value chain by including all relevant stakeholders, esp. end-users, represented by the umbrella organisation for nursing homes in Switzerland, a specialised clinic in Austria as well as a partner who runs several homes in Italy.
We are confident that we can overcome existing market entry barriers by offering a single point of contact (e.g. CuraSolutions in Switzerland) to (potential) customers for advice, configuration, installation and technical as well as disease-specific support.
In our preliminary business plan, we explicitly address commercial exploitation by tailoring the solutions to different requirements and settings: low-cost, mobile for private households incl. a lease option vs. high-end and stationary for nursing homes or SCU. 

Website GREAT.

Duration: 01.02.2017 - 31.12.2020

Funding:

Im Rahmen des europäischen AAL-Programms

Partner:

Fachhochschule Vorarlberg, FHS St.Gallen, Institut für Informations- und Prozessmanagement, FHS St.Gallen, Fachstelle Demenz, FHS St.Gallen - Interdisziplinäres Kompetenzzentrum Alter, EMT – energy management team AG, Curaviva Verband Heime und Institutio