AAL Forum Award


A winning product to market T


he Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme’s very first Forum Project Award was a popular


competition attracting a large audience to the Dragon’s Den style inquisition of the four finalists and eager anticipation amongst delegates about who had picked up this precious prize. The competition was, of course, tough,


with so many projects meeting the judges’ criteria, which was based on the level and quality of end user integration, the overall level of innovation and its market potential. The overall aim of the award was not only to reward what the judges considered to be the most valuable project based on those criteria, but to raise the overall awareness of AAL innovation as a whole. The winner of the first Forum prize


was the ExCITE project and its Giraff telepresence robot, designed to improve social interaction for the elderly. Stephen Von Rump, founder and CEO


of Giraff Technologies, spoke after receiving the honour of being AAL JP’s very first project award winner. Just what did he think the award will mean for his innovative Giraff robot? “The challenge that all of us have


in this young industry is trying to get the technology over the hurdle into commercialisation,” he said. “That’s what a lot of these grants and goals are all about - getting this out of the laboratory and into the real world, into the commercial environment. “The challenge for small start


up companies like ourselves,” he continued, “is always about how to get access to the market, access to customers, access to users and so on, and the ExCITE project for Giraff the company is all about getting early access to users, being able to make mistakes in a more friendly, controlled environment, and being able to come out with a product which is really tailored to user requirements. “So that access and visibility have


been really important for us, and certainly this award increases our visibility at the EU level, and hopefully gives us access to more customers and enables us to tailor the product and services even more.” The ExCITE project developed Giraff, a


mobile telepresence device - ‘Skype on wheels’ as it has been dubbed. It allows


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Stephen Von Rump is confident AAL products will make a difference


anyone, a family member, a friend, a professional care giver or even a doctor or a nurse to be able to virtually enter the home over the internet and conduct a natural visit there just as if they were actually coming to the door. It’s certainly a novel approach to communication with the elderly and the bright blue device catches the eye. Von Rump is convinced older people will benefit a great deal from its presence in the home, while care givers and family members will also feel the benefits. “We know for sure that social


connectivity and avoiding isolation and loneliness is a major part of elderly care and in fact even contributes to physical wellbeing as well as emotional and mental wellbeing,” he explained. “So the goal of the Giraff is to improve quality of life in the home and to extend the time that elderly people can remain in their own home safely and independently by allowing more people to participate in the care process. So that’s what it means for the user, for the people in the home and those that care for them, it’s all about quality of life.” A major contributing factor in winning


the award and, something the judges honed in on during the Q&A session with the finalists, was the commercial viability of the projects and Von Rump’s ambitious goals certainly impressed.


“One goal for any start-up company is


always about raising money,” he said. “But in terms of commercialisation now, our goal is to build and deliver into the market 100 Giraffs in the next 12 months. That’s ambitious, but given that we now have a product that is getting rapidly tailored to user requirements, something that we think will be accepted in the market quickly, it’s possible.” So how do people actually react to


this big blue machine trundling around their homes? “Well, there’s no question it’s certainly something that needs a proper introduction and a bit of getting used to,” conceded Von Rump. “The two most common points of feedback that we get from the elderly after using the Giraff in the home for a while, is number one - the simplicity. There’s no user interface, there’s nothing for them to do except press the button saying I want the visit, or I don’t want the visit. Everything else is done by the person making the visit, coming from the charging station, going around the house, making the visit, entering the living room and then going back to the charging station when it’s done. “The second thing that elderly people


say they like about the Giraff is that there is a feeling of control that they have, because they get to decide who has permission to visit them and under what circumstances. And it’s a lot easier to say no when someone comes to visit on the Giraff than if someone is knocking at your door.” Needless to say, Von Rump thoroughly


enjoyed the AAL Forum and left with renewed vigour and a determination that he will see Giraff succeed in helping the elderly stay connected, while at the same time make the company behind it commercially successful – the two cornerstones of the AAL programme. “It’s certainly been a great event for us, and it seems for everyone,” he said. “The talks, the exhibitions and the social events as well – it’s been a great time. “I think one thing that I’ve learnt is


that the most valuable conversations and dialogues have been with those who are actually in the care practice, members of municipalities or health organisations,” he added. “I would like to see us continue as an organisation to do things to encourage even more participation by those groups.”


AAL Forum 2011


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