UWE Bristol teams up with ExtraCare Charitable Trust to bring latest technologies to retirement villages

The University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) is to work with ExtraCare to help incorporate innovative technologies into its properties for the benefit of residents.

The technology will include intelligent sensing systems that could determine when someone falls in the home, as well as interactive systems such as smart assistants and assistive robots to provide reminders for medication, support rehabilitation activities, or take voice commands to turn appliances on or close the blinds for those with mobility impairments.

The two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with ExtraCare, which runs over 15 retirement villages in the UK, will see it work with the University’s Assisted Living Studio, based in Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL). The Assisted Living Studio is a facility to develop, test and implement assistive robots and intelligent sensor systems.

As part of the KTP, UWE Bristol will recruit a graduate or ‘associate’ who will join ExtraCare. The associate will help introduce technologies into its villages and test how they work.

ExtraCare’s Executive Director of Marketing and Innovation Henriette Lyttle, said, “Our vision is to enable better lives for older people and to create sustainable communities that provide homes older people want and lifestyles they can enjoy. This KTP is an opportunity to pioneer the integration of technologies into our retirement villages in order to increase quality of life and prolong independent living.”

The charity is to set up two state of the art ‘living lab’ apartments in its new retirement facility in Stoke Gifford next to UWE Bristol’s Frenchay campus as part of this KTP. These will enable it to trial the technology and gather data on how users interact with the systems.

One of the apartments will demonstrate to potential customers and staff how technology can assist residents with day-to-day activities, while the other will have a live-in resident. Data obtained from the resident’s interaction with the machines will provide valuable information to help determine what technology works, and in what context it should be used. This data will in turn inform UWE Bristol researchers on how best to optimise the technology.

The charity will work with Dr Praminda Caleb-Solly, who is academic supervisor on the project, Associate Professor in Independent Living Systems at UWE Bristol, and runs the Assisted Living Studio.

By undertaking the KTP in partnership with the University, the charity hopes to acquire new knowledge and expertise to help make technology applications available and affordable in its retirement villages for the benefit of residents. In this way, more older people will live more comfortably and independently for longer thanks to technology that enhances their day-to-day living.

The ExtraCare Charitable Trust

The ExtraCare Charitable Trust is a registered charity based in Coventry since 1988. Our vision is better lives for older people and our mission is creating sustainable communities that provide homes older people want, lifestyles they can enjoy and care if it’s needed. To deliver our vision and mission we essentially do three things:

To deliver our vision we essentially do three things:

• We develop new villages
• We operate villages and schemes
• We support our villages, schemes and our ‘extra-care’ model through fundraising, advocacy and research

Each village or scheme has 5 to 18 social, health and leisure facilities that are accessible to our residents, volunteers and local people representing all age groups living in surrounding communities. Our Charity Shops help fund care and well-being services for older people living at our each of our locations.