Living Labs for Pervasive Healthcare Research

Living laboratories are real-life settings with embedded heterogeneous technology, where subjects can conduct their everyday activities while researchers measure and observe their interactions with pervasive technology. Early examples of living labs for pervasive healthcare research include home environments with sensing and control infrastructure, such as the Aware Home at Georgia Tech and the PlaceLab at MIT. These labs offer realistic conditions but aren't actual living spaces. Here, the authors focus on actual living spaces that have been instrumented to design and evaluate pervasive healthcare systems and applications: The Life Laboratory at the Oregon Center for Aging & Technology (ORCATECH); TigerPlace, a senior housing facility in Missouri; and Life at a Pie (Living at a Pervasive Interaction Environment) in Tijuana, Mexico.