Prototyping an autonomous system to stimulate the interaction and preserve the elderly's social bonds: Development of a prototype to validate the interaction model

Aging is a natural process inherent in being human. During the aging process a person's physical and mental condition will degrade, imposing limitations on their life, which can have a great impact on their well-being. Although they are common to all humans, the consequences of aging can be aggravated by the decline in social relations and contact with family and friends. It is therefore of the utmost importance to maintain these relationships throughout life. In this sense, we intend to develop a system to support these people, allowing them to overcome their limitations, promoting and reinforcing the bonds between the user and the elements of his family and group of friends, using the technology. In this article we discuss the prototyping of a support system for the elderly to combat the lack of interaction between these individuals and their social group. With the use of prototyping it is intended a previous validation of the concept and functionalities of this system. The user is placed within the development process and, in this way, it is possible to evaluate the Human-Machine Interaction component and to detect possible problems so that they can be solved in a timely manner. This is an iterative process in which the system is constantly evaluated and readjusted until it is validated.