Creating a Smartphone App to Assist Older People when Travelling by Public

Transport

The ASSISTANT ProjectPhilip Barham (Transport & Travel Research)

Presented by: Fiona McLean (Transport & Travel Research)

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ASSISTANT – The Essentials

o Sponsored by the Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) Joint Programme, and NCPs in Austria, Finland, France, Spain and UK

o 3-year project: €2.67mo June 2012 – May 2015oCoordinator: Tecnalia (Stefan Carmien)

Stefan.carmien@tecnalia.com

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Aims of ASSISTANT

o To assist older people in using public transporto To enhance older people’s comfort and

confidence when using public transporto To create a commercially viable product by 2017

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Target Audience

• “More mobile” older people (aged 65+)• Limited experience of using public transport• Limited experience with accessing information

online

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Key Phases of Project

• Year 1: Concept Phase – User needs review and evaluations

• Year 2: Pilot Phase – evaluations• Year 3: Prototype Phase – evaluations

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Concept Phase

• Informal interviews• 3 Focus Groups – Austria, France, Spain• Mock-ups of user interface

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Pilot Phase• On-street evaluations

– Helsinki, San Sebastián, Vienna

• Shadowing using “Wizard of Oz” techniques• Informal interviews, travel diary, questionnaires

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Prototype Phase

• Happening this week!• Training workshop and presentation• 2 week testing with travel diary• Technical support on call• Evaluation questionnaire

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System Architecture

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Main Features of Appo Requirement: A smartphone and a home PCo Travel support in planning a tripo Guidance on which vehicle to boardo Notification of when to get off the vehicleo Navigation assistance to final destinationo Active help for dealing with disruptions and service

alterationso Personalised

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System: Finer Points

o Presents “Push to User” information, i.e. only what the user needs to know, when the information is needed

o Has an error trapping and contextualisation function – it expects errors

o Can be personalised to each user’s physical and cognitive capabilities

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Alternative Navigation Modes

Compass Map

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Challenges and Barriers

• Fast pace of app development• Quality of GPS and its accuracy in the urban

pedestrian environment• Using two technologies together• Low smartphone ownership & use among older

people

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Thank you for your attention!

Further information at

ophilip.barham@ttr-ltd.com owww.aal-assistant.eu o@AAL_ASSISTANT oLinked In Discussion Group