Smart t-shirts for an Easier LiFe

The main goal of SELF is to further develop and test a so-called smart t-shirt that will have several built-in sensors that measure heart rate, breathing rate, body temperature and activity. To achieve our main goal, we must first understand older people's needs and opinions about such a smart t-shirt, which will be explored using two questionnaires sent out to older people between 60 and 85 years in 4 different European countries (Norway, Poland, Spain, and Italy). Subsequently, the t-shirt will be tested for usability with a smaller selection of older people in 3 countries before the t-shirt is finalized. In the long term, such a t-shirt can help older people to take care of their own health and promote quality of life. SELF is an international project funded by AAL-EU which is coordinated in Italy with participants from Spain, Poland and Norway.

Prosjektet ble avsluttet etter midveis review, før de første resultatene forela. Forventede virkninger og effekter ble dermed ikke oppnådd.

The SELF system (composed by an innovative Smart t-shirt with high wearability, advanced dry polimer sensors, data management platform and advanced communications devices) solves the above challenges by real-time monitoring of vital parameters. The USP of the SELF-system is a hi-tech, highly user-friendly system that is easily integrated into the daily routines of older adults to improve their lifestyle and wellbeing, thus increasing their willingness to use it and compliance. Target group: End users will be selected and involved in several activities from the very start of the project, with a thorough co-creation approach: 400 end-users in large scale surveys for general requirements; 120 end-users in 4 Countries (30 each) will be directly involved in requirements, co-design, several testing campaigns, analysis of results, in an iterative way. They will also become the “SELF champions”, acting as spearheads in their Countries supporting the market deployment of the system. Technology used: The t-shirts are manufactured by LETS. They have advanced sensors embedded in them and are capable of dynamically monitoring ECG and respiratory frequency, in relation to users’ life context and real-world activity. This system is connected to a central unit that directly transmits data to an APP which gives an alarm signal when a threshold is crossed. In this way, the smart t-shirt could be the enabling factor for the implementation of a "Health surveillance and monitoring" service. Route to market: Due to the private/consumer nature of the target market, the main route to market is the direct selling of the SELF-system to final consumer, via national/local distributors, but also via intermediary organizations, i.e. nursing homes willing to offer this as a service to their hosts, hospitals, informal caregivers, elderly associations with pool agreements and pooled services, private foundations and NGOs promoting innovative solutions to elderly for their wellbeing.