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PA7: Dependable ubiquitous computing in the home January 2002-December 2004 Partners: Lancaster, Newcastle, York, Age Concern, Morecambe Bay Health Authority The primary objective of this activity is to investigate the problems of ensuring that computer-based systems that are installed in people's homes are dependable. This type of system is quite different from organisational computer systems because the operating environment of the system can't be controlled, users are incredibly diverse and users don't have specialised training. The type of systems that we are focusing on here are so-called assistive technologies - technologies that support elderly and disabled people to live independently. These have to be dependable as the users may not be able to cope without them and have to be designed for users whose capabilities may be impaired in a variety of different ways. Dependability issues include safety, security, reliability and usability. We believe that if these systems are to be both dependable and usable then we need to have a thorough understanding of users and the environment where these systems may be installed. Therefore, the first stage of the project is a collaborative activity with a group of elderly people to help us understand how they might use assistive technologies and to get their opinions as to what technologies would and would not be useful. Ultimately, our aim is to develop a set of design tools that will support the deployment and dependability assessment of assistive technologies in the home. These might include tools for hazard assessment, a needs assessment tool and a configuration deployment tool. This project is cooperating with the
Equator IRC's Digital
Care in the Community project.
Working Paper Guy Dewsbury, Ian Sommerville, Mark Rouncefield,
Karen Clarke |