Project details
Title:
Empowering Mobility with affective cOmputing, brain-computer inTerface, Internet of Things, and Vital signs monitoring for Smart WhEelchairs
Acronym:
E-MOTIVE
Type:
European (Total Funding Amount: 198.858,58 €) – Second Open Call of PHArA-ON Horizon 2020 – Pilots for Healthy and Active Ageing (Grant Agreement: 857188)
Start Date:
December 1, 2023
End Date:
September 30, 2024
Principal Investigator:
Andrea Monteriù – UNIVPM Partner Responsible
Other Units Involved:
Next2u s.r.l. (Lead Partner) – Università “D’Annunzio” di Chieti-Pescara – UNIVPM
Keywords:
Smart Wheelchairs; Affective Computing; Physiological Monitoring; Ambient Assisted Living (AAL); Internet of Things (IoT)
Description:
The E-MOTIVE project aims to develop innovative smart wheelchair (SW) solutions to enhance mobility and independence for elderly people and individuals with motor disabilities. By integrating affective computing, brain-computer interfaces, Internet of Things (IoT), and vital signs monitoring, E-MOTIVE enables real-time evaluation of users’ health and emotional states. The system combines a Physiological Computational Module (PCM) with advanced navigation capabilities, wearables, and IoT tools connected to the Pharaon ecosystem, promoting interoperability with existing technologies. A tablet on board supports cognitive tests and positive stimulation, tailored to the user’s emotional state. E-MOTIVE fosters active aging, safe home care, and improved quality of life, reducing caregiver stress and healthcare costs. The project will validate its solutions in elder care facilities and home environments, demonstrating their technical feasibility, social acceptability, and economic sustainability.
Objectives:
The E-MOTIVE project aims to develop smart wheelchair (SW) solutions that support autonomous and assisted mobility for elderly people and individuals with motor disabilities. Key objectives include: enabling real-time monitoring of physiological and environmental signals; assessing users’ affective states through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and affective computing; integrating the system within the Pharaon ecosystem to ensure interoperability with existing IoT devices and services; enhancing user experience through cognitive stimulation and personalized interactions via a tablet interface; and promoting active aging, social inclusion, and home care. The project also seeks to improve the quality of care by reducing caregiver workload through remote monitoring and automated health tracking. E-MOTIVE will validate the proposed solutions in both residential and home settings, ensuring technical effectiveness, social acceptance, and economic sustainability.
Application Contexts:
The E-MOTIVE project is designed for application in elder care facilities and home environments, focusing on supporting elderly individuals and people with motor disabilities in their daily mobility. These contexts involve users who are often fragile, require continuous monitoring, and need sensitive, personalized care. The smart wheelchair solutions aim to promote independent living, active aging, and social inclusion, while also supporting caregivers and healthcare professionals in managing complex care routines. The system will seamlessly integrate with the Pharaon ecosystem and existing IoT infrastructures, ensuring compatibility with commercially available devices. E-MOTIVE’s solutions can also be extended to rehabilitation centers, assisted living spaces, and long-term care settings, where enhancing autonomy, safety, and emotional well-being is crucial. The approach can further benefit sectors beyond healthcare, including logistics and service robotics, due to its scalable and adaptable technological framework.
Expected Results:
The E-MOTIVE project is expected to deliver an advanced smart wheelchair (SW) equipped with autonomous and user-controlled navigation, real-time physiological and emotional monitoring, and cognitive stimulation tools. The integration with the Pharaon ecosystem will enable seamless interoperability with IoT devices and health monitoring applications, providing a robust and user-friendly framework. Expected outcomes include improved mobility, independence, and quality of life for elderly people and individuals with motor disabilities, as well as reduced stress and workload for caregivers through automated health tracking and remote support. The project aims to promote active aging, social inclusion, and better home care, while also contributing to healthcare cost reduction by minimizing hospital admissions. E-MOTIVE will validate the system in real-life settings, demonstrating its technical feasibility, user acceptance, and economic sustainability, and will foster innovation in smart mobility and assistive robotics sectors.
Achivied Results:
At the conclusion of the E-MOTIVE project, several significant results have been achieved, contributing to the advancement of smart mobility solutions for elderly people and individuals with motor disabilities. The project successfully developed and validated an innovative smart wheelchair (SW) equipped with autonomous and user-assisted navigation, integrated with a Physiological Computational Module (PCM) capable of real-time monitoring of physiological parameters and affective states through Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based algorithms. The SW was designed to seamlessly communicate with the Pharaon ecosystem, ensuring interoperability with Internet of Things (IoT) devices and health monitoring platforms such as IoTool, SenLab, and RRD eHealth. The PCM, developed by N2U, integrates RGB and Infrared (IR) cameras to assess vital signs and affective conditions, while the navigation and sensor system, developed by UNIVPM, ensures safe and adaptive movement in both indoor and outdoor environments. A tablet was also installed on the SW, allowing the administration of cognitive tests and positive stimuli using applications like Pharaon PACO to support emotional well-being and encourage healthy behaviors.
The system was tested in real-world scenarios, including elder care facilities and home environments, demonstrating high technical reliability, social acceptability, and user satisfaction. The solution effectively supported the mobility and autonomy of users, while also enabling remote health and emotional state monitoring, significantly reducing caregiver workload and improving care quality. Furthermore, the project provided user-centered training protocols and developed accessible tutorials to foster the acceptance of the technology by elderly users. The adoption of the E-MOTIVE system contributed to reducing social isolation, promoting active aging, and improving the overall quality of life for people with disabilities.
The technological framework of E-MOTIVE proved to be scalable and adaptable, opening new opportunities not only in the healthcare sector but also in other domains such as logistics and service robotics. The project successfully showcased the potential for entrepreneurial growth and innovation within the smart wheelchair industry, providing a sustainable and impactful solution to address the challenges posed by demographic aging and increasing disability rates.
S. Iarlori, D. Perpetuini, M. Tritto, D. Cardone, A. Tiberio, M. Chinthakindi, C. Filippini, L. Cavanini, A. Freddi, F. Ferracuti, A. Merla and A. Monteriù (2024). A Mobility Indoor Solution Based on the Affective State Evaluation: The E-MOTIVE Project About the Empowering Mobility with Affective Computing, Brain-Computer Interface, Internet of Things, and Vital Signs Monitoring for Smart Wheelchairs. In: Fiorini, L., Sorrentino, A., Siciliano, P., Cavallo, F. (eds) Ambient Assisted Living. ForItAAL 2024. Lecture Notes in Bioengineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-77318-1_27
D. Perpetuini; S. Iarlori; D. Cardone; M. Chinthakindi; L. Cavanini; A. Freddi; F. Ferracuti; A. Monteriù; A. Merla; M. Tritto, “Thermal Imaging for Real-Time Monitoring of Stress and Engagement in Autonomous and Manual Smart Wheelchair Navigation,” 2024 E-Health and Bioengineering Conference (EHB), IASI, Romania, 2024, pp. 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1109/EHB64556.2024.10805677
Iarlori, S., Perpetuini, D., Tritto, M., Cardone, D., Tiberio, A., Chinthakindi, M., Filippini, C., Cavanini, L., Freddi, A., Ferracuti, F., Merla, A., & Monteriù, A. (2024). An Overview of Approaches and Methods for the Cognitive Workload Estimation in Human–Machine Interaction Scenarios through Wearables Sensors. BioMedInformatics, 4(2), 1155-1173. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedinformatics4020064
Project Web Site:
www.next2u-solutions.com/e-motive
Project Social Accounts:
Facebook (facebook.com/pharaon.project)
X (x.com/PharaonProject/status/1775780340839108665)
Web Site of the DII Laboratory:
Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence Robotics (LAIR)
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Project Logo: