Title: CASA
Funder: Innovate UK

Abstract: CONNECTING ASSISTIVE SOLUTIONS TO ASPIRATIONS "I want to keep living in the comfort of my own home and continue doing the things I like doing. I never want to move into a residential care home, or become trapped in a home that no longer suits my lifestyle. With the current preoccupation with my limited functionality, my aspirations remain largely ignored." The promised smart home to support independent living has not materialised. The assistive technology market is fragmented and dominated by hardware providers selling products to help with "age-related decline" or “special needs.” These are marketed to the general public via poorly designed retail channels, or sold en masse to the public sector using often-unfulfilled promises of cost savings. Specialised technology may be inaccessible due to prohibitive costs or poor commercial application, and most of the products designed are hardware-led lacking in any modern design aesthetics. Technology that is not specifically designed for the “telecare” market but may have great value is often overlooked. Proprietary design can lead to interoperability problems, which usually results in the installation of multiple redundant devices to provide necessary functions. The technology is often inflexible and does not adapt to changing lives, soon rendering it “not fit for purpose”. In addition, current technologies are predominantly reactive, designed to detect adverse events or require user initiative to trigger an alarm. The business aims to transform the market by establishing new and sustainable value chains which deliver excellent client-focused service at all stages of ageing and disability. The multi-disciplinary, person-focused CASA project will explore the opportunity to create a disruptive new market using high profile demonstrators of effective solutions. It will define and develop commercially viable models for lifestyle enhancing, personalised services for all. It will help build an evidence base for the commercial proposition to ensure it delivers affordable and measurable improvements in quality of life and wellbeing. It will explore how best to customise and combine market-ready products and those already on the market; and envision new flexible technologies; which can be deployed and have impact by 2020 and beyond. Technology will be grouped into packs matched to aspirations; be interoperable with other technologies and existing systems; be sold through inspiringly branded, attractive and easy to use retail channels; and promote independence by having in-built intelligence which detects problems before they arise. CASA will create a holistic integrated solution for people who want attractive design, efficient functionality and intuitive usability. That's most of us. A personalised service delivering a set of enabling products designed to meet individual desires. Getting technology to do what it does best to enable people to do what they do best. This project pulls together existing and new technologies, working out how they might better fit with people's physical surroundings, social networks and desired lifestyles, to produce an affordable contemporary lifestyle product that is as aspirational as a new kitchen. Be the envy of your neighbours, the first on the street to have your home improved and your life enhanced by CASA.


Research activity codes: 7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE