16 Ambient Assisted Living Smart Homes

A unique collaboration between the Louth Local Authorities, local Health Service Executive, industry partners, research & development and the older residents. This demonstration project for independent living uses sensor technologies in a community and research context. This is a flagship project for County Louth as Ireland's first 'Age-Friendly' County and for the Netwell & CASALA research centres at the Dundalk Institute of Technology.

Great Northern Haven is a purpose-built development of 16 smart apartments constructed specifically for Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) applications. Fifteen of the apartments are occupied by older residents who are actively involved on research projects and the last apartment is maintained as a demonstration and transitional unit.

The Netwell Centre set up an ageing-in-place research project to exam the impact of the housing on older peoples quality of life, while CASALA manages the technology, collates the data and adapts the systems to meet the unique needs on individual occupants.

A wide and rich data set is continuously being gathered from Great Northern Haven, from consenting residents, internally within the apartments and from the grounds of the development. Each apartment has 100+ sensors, connected TV's, touch screen devices and a core network infrastructure throughout. In total there are over two thousand (2000) sensors and actuators throughout the development.

The project seeks to enhance the quality of life of older people through ambient assisted living (AAL) technologies, using the best of sensor and healthcare technologies currently available and as part of a living lab for new technologies and services developed through research collaborations. Ongoing research at Great Northern Haven will inform national policy and provide international experience in relation to services for older people, and has a wide range of potential commercial applications.

CASALA is actively seeking commercial and applied research engagements with commercial and non-commercial organisations and other researchers, interested in technology and ageing;

Contact us for more information or to discuss a potential project.