type

Filed Study

method

Qualitative Interviews
Technology Probe
Usability Study

period

2023-2024

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Active and Assisted Living (AAL) technologies aim to enhance the quality of life of older adults and promote successful aging. While video-based AAL solutions offer rich capabilities for better healthcare management in older age, they pose significant privacy risks. To mitigate the risks, we developed a video-based monitoring system that incorporates different privacy-preserving filters: blur, pixelation, avatar, and elimination filters. We deployed the system in one assistive technology center in Italy and conducted a qualitative study with older adults and other stakeholders involved in care provision (N=29).

Our study demonstrates diverse users’ perceptions and experiences with video-monitoring technology and offers valuable insights for the system’s further development. The findings unpack the privacy-versus-safety trade-off inherent in video-based technologies and discuss how the privacy-preserving mechanisms within the system mitigate privacy-related concerns. The study also identifies varying stakeholder perspectives towards the system in general and highlights potential avenues for developing video-based monitoring technologies in the AAL context.

The key learning points from our study for designers of AAL technologies: 

1. Our study reveals the delicate balance between privacy and safety concerns in the adoption of video monitoring systems for older adults in Active and Assisted Living contexts.

2. Our findings highlight the importance of aligning technology design with user preferences, emphasizing user involvement and empowerment as essential components for successful implementation.

3. Our research builds upon a “privacy-by-context” concept by providing design recommendations for the video monitoring system development.

Project in collaboration with Tamara Mujirishvili, Kooshan Hashemifard, Pau Climent-Pérez, and Francisco Florez-Revuelta from the University of Alicante (Spain).