User Modelling in Ambient Intelligence for Elderly and Disabled People

Ambient Intelligence (AmI) characterizes a vision where humans are surrounded by computers. Combining ongoing technological developments (e.g. pervasive computing, wearable devices, sensor networks etc.) with user-centred design methods greatly increases the acceptance of the intelligent system and makes it more capable of providing a better quality of life in a non-intrusive way. Elderly people, with or without disabilities, could clearly benefit from this concept. Thanks to smart environments, they can experience considerable enhancements, giving them an opportunity to live more independently and for longer in their home rather than in a health-care centre. However, to implement such a system, it is essential to know for whom we are designing. Indeed, the system needs to know the users’ capabilities and behaviour in order to adapt itself and improve the interaction. Creating a user model based on the principal characteristics of the end-users will contribute positively in the development of the system’s intelligence. In this paper, we present an intelligent system with a monitoring infrastructure that will help mainly elderly users with impairments to overcome their handicap. The purpose of such a system is to create a safe and intuitive environment that will facilitate the achievement of household tasks in order to preserve independence of elderly residents for a while longer. Pursuing this goal, we propose to use the persona concept to help us build a user model based on the personas’ aptitudes. The practice of user modelling emphasizes the importance of user-centred techniques in any AmI system development and highlights the potential impacts of AmI for certain targeted groups in this case, the elderly and people with disabilities.