Indra participates in European R&D Project to facilitate the mobility of the elderly

Indra is participating in the DALI (Devices for Assisted Living) European R&D project, which has the aim of providing a comprehensive response to the reduction of the mobility of the elderly in urban and unstructured environments by means of a system that will help them to move around and increase their autonomy and confidence.

Accordingly, the project will integrate elements to magnify the senses in which the users are deficient, detecting hazardous situations and suggesting corrective actions to avoid them. The aim is to replace or enhance the function of a caregiver companion when the elderly person is outside of his familiar environment.

The robotic walker, which is equipped with various cameras and sensors, will detect, for example, crowds of people, obstacles and even the status of the user. Using this information the solution will make decisions to avoid the hazards and facilitate the route for the elderly person, who, notwithstanding, will always retain full control of his movement. The platform uses, moreover, multiple forms of interaction (visual, auditory and vibration) to try to cover the range of needs of the users.

The applications of the DALI project include the use of the solution to navigate outside and in shopping centres, helping the users to search for products. Other possible uses of the platform are its use in old people's homes to guide people with some degree of disability when it is time to go and eat, in major hospitals to direct them to their appointments, and in airports or railway stations to take them to the boarding gate or platform. As the walker also controls the elderly person's movement it could also be used in rehabilitation and occupational healthcare.

The project, which is funded by the European Commission through the Seventh Framework Programme and coordinated by the University of Trento, is scheduled to be completed in November 2014. In addition to Indra, which is leading the integration of the prototype, the other participants in the consortium are the Spanish company Visual Tools, the University of Siena, the French body Inria, the Greek research group Forth, Northumbria University and Siemens.

Indra is the leading Spanish multinational consulting and technology firm and one of the main players in Europe and Latin America. Innovation is the cornerstone of its business and sustainability, having allocated more than €550M to R+D+i in the last three years, making it one of the leading companies in Europe in its sector in terms of investment. Indra’s turnover is around €3,000 million, and almost 60% of its revenue comes from international markets. The company employs 42,000 professionals and has customers in 128 countries.