A Survey on Technical Challenges of Assistive Robotics for Elder People in Domestic Environments: The ASPiDA Concept

In recent decades, modern developed societies have experienced a significant increase in life expectancy, resulting in a significant degree of aging in the population. This demographic shift has had a significant impact on the daily needs and habits of the population. According to recent demographic projections, the elderly population is expected to triple and reach 2 billion people worldwide by 2050. However, future societies around the world are not adequately prepared to face the potential challenges arising from population aging. Elderly people tend to spend more time at home, but the functionalities and ergonomics of current home equipment and appliances do not fully satisfy their needs. Moreover, the absence of familiarity with new, smarter, and automated domestic technologies creates a significant gap that affects the acceptance and adoption of these technologies by the elderly. In this work, we present the most important technical challenges for the integration of assisted living technologies into a Mobile Robotic Platform (MRP). Additionally, we present the ASPiDA concept, a project proposing a holistic system to support elderly people in their domicile environment.