User-centered activity management system for elderly people Empowering older people with interactive technologies to manage their activities at the retirement home

This paper presents the preliminary results of a multi-disciplinary project aiming at studying technology supported life in a retirement home. The results of semi-structured interviews conducted with a group of 40 (semi-) autonomously living elderly persons are presented. In general they point in the direction of a “differential indication” of technologies in the sense of identifying personal solution for individual needs. Second, results show that the crucial dimension underlying the acceptance of technologies is the notion of personal control. The paper also identifies ten key design factors to build successful applications for elderly people. Finally an initial version of a new system mixing RFID, tactile screen and large display is described.