ASK-IT
To date, little consideration has been given to a "design for all" philosophy that facilitates inclusion using info-mobility services to benefit the quickly growing market of Europe's senior and special needs populations. Information Technology (IT) capabilities have seemingly infinite benefits to MI users, whose limited mobility yields a consequent need for "assistive" services. Indeed, the need for such well designed IT solutions is much more clear-cut than in any other sector of the European Union citizenship.
To this end, ASK-IT aims to develop an extended ambient intelligence space for the integration of functions and services for mobility-impaired persons across various environments (e.g. car, bus, airplane, home, work, leisure and sport).
ASK-IT focuses on geo-referenced and personalized transport and tourism services. Emphasis is on seamless service provision, independent of the media being accessed, user location (i.e. indoors, outdoors, in a city, in transit etc.), user type, and residual abilities.
As such, ASK-IT maintains the following as its key objectives:
• Mediation of services and content: in a pervasive, translucent, understandable, and managed way, supporting seamless and efficient supply.
• Seamless environment management: seamless provision of support services everywhere, at any time, and through many mobile and/or fixed means (i.e. accessible in all places, mobile, self-installable, easily interfaced with assistive devices, etc.).
• User preference and context-related driven processes: offering intelligent support and automatic adaptation of service content and layout (user interface) to the users by knowing his/her exact location, transportation plans, static profile (i.e. type of disability, age, gender, etc.), dynamic preferences (i.e. mode of transportation, hotel preferences, restaurant preferences, etc.), and type of user (i.e. tourist, commuter, businessman, etc.).
• Flexible geo-referenced services: combining provisions for multimodal travel information with pedestrian navigation on accessible routes - both outdoors and indoors - and according to the required level of accuracy by the user (i.e. higher accuracy required for blind users for obstacle avoidance) and the context of use (i.e. more precision required on lane position while driving a car versus riding a bus).
• Maintaining a confidence-based environment for the user: effectively handling issues of safety, reliability, security, privacy, and usability.
Learn more about ASK-IT's Sub-Projects