CARUcares-​Evalu – Evaluation of CARU, a voice-​controlled device for home care

In the past years, various technologies were developed under the name “Active and Assisted Living” (AAL), meant to help prolong the older people’s ability to stay in their own homes. Voice assistants are already available on the market, but hardly any of them are fit for older people in need of care. Furthermore, the data security of these systems is often questioned by the media.

In the course of the cooperative european research project “CARU cares”, a voice assistant, CARU, with data security, is to be developed for older people in need of care. Its purpose is to facilitate communication between the home care service user and the care worker and to enable them to ask for help more efficiently in case of an emergency. Further, CARU supports voice-controlled documentation in the care recipient’s home.

The WU Research Institute for Economics of Aging coordinates the multidisciplinary evaluation of CARU (CARUcares-Evalu).

Project duration: 01.06.2019 - 31.05.2022

Funding: benefit Programm – EU-funds and national funds (Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft – FFG) as well as funds from partner organisations (for the WU: WU and Fonds Soziales Wien (FSW))

Team WU:

Dr. Birgit Trukeschitz – project lead „CARUcares-Evalu“
Mag. phil. Judith Kieninger, BA
Friedrich Ebner, MA

Daniel Kammer, MSc
Univ.Prof. Dr. Ulrike Schneider

„CARU cares“ - project partners:

CARU AG (Schweiz), Bonacasa AG (Schweiz), Hochschule Luzern – iHomeLab (Schweiz) (consortium leadership), Johanniter Österreich Ausbildung und Forschung GmbH (Österreich), Fachhochschule Wiener Neustadt (Österreich), Schneeweis Wittmann Grafik Design Werkstatt (Österreich), Senior Living Group (Belgien), Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (Österreich)

Find further information regarding the project here.