Older adults typically prefer living at their homes as long as possible. However, they often need to be institutionalized due to the age related problems. Homecare can benefit today from a range of existing technologies including smartphones, sensors, etc., however, their effectiveness is limited by the sense of fear and uncomfortableness that many older adults feel. Most current technologies, in fact, are often not designed for older adults, least of all for users with memory impairments. The derivative limitations become a major barrier, severely limiting use of technological assistance in a home environment. CAPTAIN proposes a “transparent” technology designed to turn the home of the older adult into a ubiquitous assistant specifically designed to compensate for their physical and memory impairments during their daily living. To do so, it leverages on a few state of the art technologies, as follows: “Projected augmented reality” to project, through use of micro-projectors, contextualised (directly on walls, floor, tables, etc.) information and instructions on top of the real environment. Real-time 3D sensing technologies to comprehend the “indoor space” (nature and position of objects and actions of the persons) and to allow transforming it into a ubiquitous tangible interface. 3D sensing, together with speech analysis, will allow device-free comprehension of the environment and of the behaviour of the adults (including its changes). Non-invasive physiological and emotional data analysis from facial micro-expressions and human body pose thanks to scalable, robust, and accurate deep learning and artificial intelligence. The coach will leverage on a motivational engine to promote correct nutrition, physical activity, cognitive and physical training, risk avoidance, and social participation. To achieve this CAPTAIN will foster a truly user-centered co-design philosophy -based on constant involvement of older adult in the design, development, and testing stages.

The aim of PROTECT-trial is to compare the clinical outcome of proton therapy (PT) and conventional radiotherapy in a randomized study and to use the data and experience to advance the field of evidence-based medicine in PT. A randomized trial with 396 patients is planned involving 13 recruiting units and 34 institutions from nine European countries in an accrual period of three years. All involved PT centers have state-of-the-art equipment, including pencil beam scanning and volumetric image guidance. The endpoints will include side effects, tumor control, survival, and health economics aspects. PROTECT-trial will use experience from the trial, combined with parallel experience from other trial methodologies, to create a consensus model for the selection of patients both for referral for standard PT and for enrollment in clinical trials. This model will be based on esophageal cancer but will have wider implications, which can be used in all European countries and for other cancer types. PROTECT-trial will result in new evidence for the role of PT in cancer management. PROTECT-trial will advance the quality of care for trimodality management of esophageal cancer. The large trial will provide statistically robust results at a high level of clinical evidence and will allow a successful trial to trigger an international change in clinical practice. If the PROTECT trial is positive, PT will become a standard option for a large patient population. The patients will recover faster from their treatment and live a better life with fewer side effects and more years at work. The results will have high relevance for other cancer types where protons also lower the dose to sensitive normal tissues. Notably, PROTECT-trial will actively engage with patients, providers, payers, and other stakeholders to design and report the study. Finally, PROTECT-trial will contribute with Health Technology Assessment and provide economic evidence of high relevance to reimbursement decisions in Europe.

The lack of ICT platforms based on open standards is regarded as one of the most significant market barriers to the creation of new care & assistance paradigms with global interconnection and interworking. UNCAP delivers an interoperable platform based on open industrial standards that leverages on existing technologies for biosensing, indoor/outdoor localisation and home-automation. The result is an open source, scalable and privacy-savvy ecosystem compatible with existing Personal Health Record systems, that can deliver novel services that can help aging people (incl. those with cognitive impairments) live independently and with dignity. To do so, UNCAP uses state-of-art physical/cognitive assessment tools together with technologies to locate objects, devices and users within indoor/outdoor spaces, to continuously monitor–in a non-invasive way- users and to assist them in case alert conditions are detected. In practice, UNCAP develops a product suite for formal and informal care environments made of: 1) the UNCAP BOX (an Android consumer device connected to TVs); 2) the UNCAP App for both users and caregivers; 3) the UNCAP CLOUD, delivering scalable care services; 4) the UNCAP certification suite, to help software and hardware manufacturers assess compliancy with standards. UNCAP will be assessed for 12 months in 14 pilots within real operational scenarios. Pilots will be located in rehabilitation centres, daily nursing facilities etc. and will involve 750+ users and 220 caregivers. Users’ physical & cognitive assessment will be carried on before and after the introduction of UNCAP to extract quantifiable metrics to assess its impact in terms of quality of care services and improved quality of life of users and caregivers. Lastly, UNCA will carry on a RoI analysis (both financial & social), an analysis of best practices of innovative organisational/business models as well as financing/procurement models for health & care service delivery at EU level.