User-sensitive home-based systems for successful ageing

The AGNES project focuses on improving the mental and physical wellbeing of elderly people living alone at home, who often suffer the effects of social and physical isolation - including cognitive decline, low activity levels and poor mood states. AGNES will carry out novel technological interventions in an area that is emerging as the new frontier in ageing research. The project will use scientifically-based knowledge on ageing and innovative technology to intervene in the lives of target users in specific and carefully selected ways, and the effects of these interventions on cognitive functioning and quality of life will be evaluated, going beyond the existing state of the art. The results will provide significant new knowledge on the potential of new information technologies to delay, help deal with, and even prevent common chronic problems experienced by the elderly population. This paper presents a short description of AGNES as a project in progress.