Virtual Organizations of agents for monitoring elderly and disabled people in geriatric residences

This paper presents the use of PANGEA platform applied to improve healthcare and assistance to elderly and dependent people in geriatric residences. PANGEA is based on Virtual Organizations of agents (VO) and integrates a set of autonomous deliberative agents designed to support the carers' activities and to guarantee that the patients are given the right care. The system makes use of Wireless Sensor Networks and a Real-Time Locating System for providing autonomous responses according to the environment status. Agents are a suitable alternative to manage the enormous quantity of data provided of sensors because they can represent autonomous entities by modelling their capabilities, expertise and intentions. This approach facilitates the inclusion of context-aware capabilities when developing intelligent and adaptable systems, where functionalities can communicate in a distributed and collaborative way. Several tests have been performed to evaluate this framework and preliminary results and conclusions are presented.