ESR15 - Tamara Mujirishvili

ESR15’s research explored how older adults and those who care for them perceive and engage with video-based AAL technologies. This research was motivated by the growing need to support ageing populations with technological solutions that promote safety and independence while addressing ethical concerns—chief among them, privacy. While video-based systems offer significant potential in areas such as health monitoring, fall detection, and remote support, their adoption is hindered by fears of surveillance and data misuse. The research sought to understand this tension and contribute to the design of solutions that are both effective and acceptable to users.

The work began by situating the issue in the broader context of demographic ageing and technological innovation. As more people live longer and prefer to remain in their own homes, technologies that assist with daily living and care become increasingly relevant. However, the very features that make video systems powerful—continuous monitoring and detailed data collection—also raise sensitive questions about intrusion, autonomy, and trust. ESR15’s central aim was to investigate how these trade-offs are negotiated by those most affected: older adults, their caregivers, and other stakeholders in the care ecosystem.

The research followed a predominantly qualitative, user-centred design approach. It began with a comprehensive scoping review of the literature on acceptance and privacy in video-based AAL, which confirmed that privacy is a central and under-addressed barrier to adoption. This review was followed by a series of empirical studies conducted in southern Spain. Through interviews and focus groups with older adults, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and technologists, the research uncovered how people define privacy, what they fear losing through surveillance, and what they might gain through improved safety and autonomy.

From these findings, ESR15 developed persona scenarios that reflect the diverse experiences and needs of end users. These personas served as empathy tools in the design of a prototype video-based monitoring system incorporating privacy-preserving features. The system includes visual filters—such as blurring, pixelation, and avatar replacement—that obscure identifying details while maintaining the utility of the video feed. Stakeholders were then invited to test and reflect on the system. Their responses indicate that such filters significantly improve acceptance, especially when users are given control over how and when monitoring occurs.

In conclusion, ESR15 argues that user-centred design and privacy-by-design principles are essential for the successful deployment of AAL technologies. The research demonstrates that acceptance improves when users feel they retain agency over their data and when technologies are adapted to context. While the findings are specific to the sociocultural environment in which the research was conducted, they offer broader insights into how video-based care technologies can be made both effective and respectful. Looking ahead, the research calls for further interdisciplinary, participatory research to ensure that innovations in ageing support serve not just technical aims, but also human values.