Technical Part
Technologies integrated into everyday life will offer the possibility to engage in social activities without leaving home. Obtainable low-cost technologies and open software systems will be exploited in Join-In and serve technology building blocks for developing home-based services for the elderly.
In the requirements’ definition process Join-In partners have been investigating sensor devices, games, communication technologies and platforms in close cooperation with the users. It showed that only a network of devices managed from a Web application hosted on a server will allow the flexibility and scalability needed. The user requirements identified so far are
Comfortable and age specific handling (e.g. by key pad, activity, gesture, voice
Different client devices (like tablet PC, smart phone, TV set)
A variety of games (video and exergames, single / multiplayer, 2D / 3D, with / without activity controllers)
Audio/Video-communication (with / without video, face2face / multi-user, with / without moderator)
Open System Design
The pros and cons of browser based, plug-in-based or custom runtime solutions are being discussed[1] as well as the web technology. On the one hand, game designers want to take advantage of the latest web technologies and, on the other hand, compatibility on cost effective and applicable TV-clients are based on restrictive standards like HbbTV (CE-HTML) which is now available in a first version for hybrid TV receivers with internet access. Similarly, the accessibility for people with age-related disabilities is an essential point, which is included in CE-HTML[2,3]
The server will provide an application optimally scaled to the client’s capabilities. Join-in will -as far as possible- use JAVA technologies and optionally HTML5.
The restrictions of the client software limit the TV-clients. Thus do most devices not offer an access to their internal software. Due to the limited processing power focused on video streaming, solutions are often either based on non-proprietary or on dated open source software versions. This limits the availability of suited drivers for controllers and sensors. Join-In partners will provide appropriate software modules.
In order to allow the use of many clients and hybrid TV receivers available on the market, we aim to connect the activity controllers with the Join-In server over the Internet by low-cost gateways (PlugComputer). Where possible the gateway function will be integrated into the client.
The presently available equipment shows that the Internet bandwidth of 1 Mbps -aimed for by politicians- is not enough for live HD video streaming. Limitations arise mainly during the upstream of HD video-phoning.
Special attention has to be directed to the prevention of latency, which affect both the quality of audio and video calling as well as the response to activity events during gaming.
Join-In Social Plattform for Seniors
[1] Tommi Mikkonen, Antero Taivalsaari Reports of the Web's Death are Greatly Exaggerated, Ieee Computer, May 2011, Ieee 2010, vol. 44, no. 5 pp. 30-36.
[2] Christoph Jung, Volker Hahn, GUIDE - Adaptive User Interfaces for Accessivle Hybrid TV Applications, - A Position Paper for the Second W3C Web and TV workshop
[3] Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) www.w3.org/WAI