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IBM researcher Roni Ram |
Editor's note: This article is by
Roni Ram, a research staff member in the Smarter Healthcare and Life Sciences
group at IBM Research - Haifa.
The United Nations predicts that the number of people over the age of 60 will triple by
the end of the century. And with that increase in life expectancy, also comes
the need to easily deliver ambient-assisted living (AAL) products and services
for senior citizens. So, IBM and EU decided to get decades ahead of this need by creating the uStore.
Developed
as part of our work on the EU universAAL research project, the uStore is a
platform upon which organizations, local governments, or businesses can offer a
wide variety of these AAL services and products. Think of the uStore as an
online marketplace where people can browse, purchase, and review AAL services
offered by a variety of providers.
Built on
top of IBM's Websphere Commerce, uStore is a customizable and scalable
e-commerce platform that allows vendors to serve the elderly and their families
by making digital and human-provided AAL services easily available. When using
uStore, users can order or download and setup AAL services as easily as
purchasing and installing apps on a mobile device or home computer.
Just
imagine this situation: Your elderly father has just been released from the
hospital, and he returns to his home, where he has lived on his own for several
years. He wants to stay at home and maintain his independence, so he
uses uStore for everything from health monitoring and doctor appointment
scheduling, to online chats with other users.
uStore
developers and service providers can make available a range of services
designed to aid with daily activities, health, and social interactions. Senior
citizens and their families can visit the uStore site to learn more about
various services, such as home medical visits, remote technical assistance,
personal nutrition applications, and more. On the site, users can also view and
participate in online forums with discussions and reviews of services, make
requests for new products and needs, get feedback, and purchase the solutions
they want.
uStore
creates a loop between the services deployment platform, the services offered,
the service providers, and the end customers. The uStore code was officially
released as part of the universAAL project and is currently available for download.
Labels: AAL, ambient assisted living, IBM Research - Haifa, Roni Ram, services for the elderly, universAAL, uStore