Towards evolutionary ambient assisted living systems

• Published in: Journal of ambient intelligence and humanized computing 2010-03, Vol.1 (1), p.15-29
• Main Authors: O’Grady, Michael J., Muldoon, Conor, Dragone, Mauro, Tynan, Richard, O’Hare, Gregory M. P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Artificial Intelligence; Computational Intelligence; Demographics; Engineering; Middleware; Older people; Original Research; Population; Robotics and Automation; Society; Software; User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction
• ISSN: 1868-5137; 1868-5145
• DOI: 10.1007/s12652-009-0003-5

Ambient assisted living (AAL) is advocated as technological solutions that will enable the elderly population maintain their independence for a longer time than would otherwise be the case. Though the facts motivating the need for AAL are indisputable, the inherently heterogeneous nature and requirements of the elderly population raise significant difficulties. One particular challenge is that of designing AAL systems that can evolve to meet the requirements of individuals as their needs and circumstances change. This demands the availability of an adaptive, open, scalable software platform that incorporates a select combination of autonomic and intelligent techniques. Given that the first generation of AAL systems will be deployed in the near future, it is incumbent on designers to factor this need for evolution and adaptivity in their designs and implementations. Thus this paper explores AAL from a number of prospective and considers an agent-based middleware approach to realising an architecture for evolutionary AAL.