Virtual Reality for AAL Services Interaction Design and Evaluation

AAL Solutions are not part of mainstream industry yet, being one of the main reasons the complexity of the technologies involved in relation to its targeted beneficiaries, the elderly, and its acceptance by them. Applying HCD methodologies for user involvement and creating physical prototypes is both costly and time consuming, particularly in this domain that combines software artifacts, devices and physical environments. VR techniques are very suited to create Virtual Prototypes that offer the beneficiaries the possibility to visualize and interact with proposed solutions before they exist. This paper presents the results of VAALID project in developing this approach of creating tools for design and simulation of AAL Solutions using VR and Mixed Reality, supporting the early involvement of beneficiaries in the process.