Incidental Interaction: Novel Technology to Support Elders-as-Athletes through Augmenting Everyday Interactions

传统上，老年人被描绘成这样的人：他们不可避免地变得虚弱，肌肉和骨骼质量下降，认知能力下降，不可避免地需要照顾才能管理简单的“日常生活活动”，如散步、进食、如厕和洗澡。这些影响限制了他们在自己家里独立和健康生活的能力。为了应对这种下降，仅在过去五年里，研究就一直在寻找新的分子和疗法来减缓或逆转衰老，在整个生命过程中提供即使不是更长的寿命，也是更好的生活质量。虽然这些科技进步带来了奇迹(对于那些有能力负担得起的人来说)，但已经有成熟的科学证明，我们都可以在一生中提高我们的生活质量。今天，同样的科学可以改善我们老年人的生活质量--从任何年龄开始这些干预。这是在建立力量：一种广为人知的人类实践。不需要任何技术来建立和保持力量；只需要在重力下移动。一遍又一遍。研究一再表明，对老年人进行抵抗力训练可以提高生活质量，同时即使不能消除与年龄相关的并发症，也可以减轻。然而，尽管它被证明是有效的、廉价的--甚至是免费的--有益于健康长寿，但许多老年人实在太虚弱了，无法照顾自己。根据AgeUK 2019年关于老年人健康状况的报告，在英国，65-69岁的人中有15%需要护理，85岁以上的公民中有三分之一需要护理。与药片、衣服或增强剂不同，力量建设面临的一些有充分证据的挑战是，要获得力量的好处，一个人必须积极地自己做这项工作。这需要时间、努力以及支持它的知识、技能和实践。当一个人已经感到虚弱，从受伤、住院或孤独中恢复时，集中力量可能更难实现。这个项目的研究是专门为解决阻碍老年人积极从事力量工作的挑战而设计的。我们的方法是共同创造互动，以帮助建立知识、技能和实践机会，以建立和保持在国内保持健康独立所需的力量。我们的方法很简单：设计互动技术和手势，以利用我们--包括老年人--每天所做的已经是力量训练的东西：站立、坐、握、拉、推、伸展、平衡--并将这些转化为增强力量的活动。我们称它为这种新的协议“做两次”。从坐着站起来？这就是力量。再来一次。这就是力量建设--这支持了“老年运动员”建立能力的知识、技能和实践，而不是需要帮助。我们的方法是跨学科的：人机交互、传感器和物理治疗方面的专家，开发新的、负担得起的交互技术，使力量练习变得有效和愉快，并支持指导这些活动，反映进展，并与朋友分享。我们称这种方法为“日常力量的偶然互动”。到目前为止，我们已经测试了该方法的可行性。在这个小项目中，我们将与我们在可持续、辅助生活住房、NHS信托基金、专业治疗和教练方面的合作伙伴，以及参与其中的长辈作为共同设计者，完善互动、传感器和锻炼方案。我们将能够在每个阶段调整我们的工作，以确保最佳参与度。在从设计、测试到内部评估的三个阶段中，我们将共同验证我们方法的可及性和有效性。通过这个项目实现我们的初步工作表明的潜力和我们的合作伙伴的预期，我们将贡献一种新的负担得起的突破性方法来帮助改变老年人的健康和护理，使老年人能够在家中获得更长、更强大的独立。

Elders classically are framed as people who are inevitably getting weaker, losing muscle and bone mass, cognitive capacity, and inevitably requiring care to manage simple "activities of daily living" such as walking, feeding, toileting and bathing. These effects limit their capacity to live independently and healthily in their own homes. To address this decline, research in even just the past five years has been looking for new molecules and therapies to slow or reverse aging, to provide if not longer life, then better quality of life throughout the life course. While these advances in science and technology promise wonders (for those who will be able to afford them), there is already established science that demonstrates how we can all improve our life quality over our lifespan. This same science can, today, improve the life quality of our elders - starting these interventions at any age. It's building strength:a well understood, human practice. No technology is required to build and maintain strength; only to move against gravity. Repeatedly. Research has repeatedly shown that resistance training for elders can improve quality of life while mitigating if not eliminating age associated co-morbidities. And yet, for all its proven effective, cheap - even free - benefits for healthful longevity, many elders are simply too weak to take care of themselves. According to a 2019 report from AgeUk on the State of Elder health, 15% of those aged 65-69, rising to 1 in 3 citizens over 85 in the UK require care. Some of the well-documented challenges to strength building are that, unlike a pill or garment or augmentation, to achieve the benefits of strength, one has to do the work oneself, actively. That takes time, effort, as well as the knowledge, skills and practices to support it. Mustering the effort can be even harder to achieve when one is already feeling weak, recuperating from an injury, a hospital stay, or from loneliness of isolation. The research in this project is specifically designed to address the challenges that keep elders from actively engaging in strength work. Our approach is to co-create interactions to help build the knowledge skills and opportunities to practice to build and preserve the strength needed to maintain healthful independence at home. Our approach is simple: design interactive technology and gestures to leverage what we - including elders - do every day that is already strength work: stand, sit, grip, pull, push, reach, balance - and translate these into activities for building strength. We call it this novel protocol "do it twice." Stand from sitting? That's strength. Do it twice. That's strength building - and that supports the knowledge skills and practice of "elder athletes" building capabilities rather than requiring assistance. Our approach is interdisciplinary: experts in Human Computer Interaction, Sensors and Physiotherapy, developing novel, affordable interactive technologies to make strength practice accessible effective and enjoyable with support to guide these activities, reflect progress, and share with friends. We call the approach "incidental interaction for everyday strength." So far, we have tested the approach for feasibility. In this small project, with our partners in sustainable, assisted living housing, NHS Trusts, professional therapy and coaching, and with participating elders as co-designers, we will be refining the interaction, the sensors and the exercise protocols. We will be able to tune our work at each stage to ensure best engagement. In three phases from design, to testing, to in-home evaluations we will together be validating the accessibility and efficacy of our approach. By realizing with this project the potential our preliminary work indicates and that our partners anticipate, we will contribute a new affordable breakthrough approach to help transform elder health and care, to enable longer, stronger elder independence@home.