Smart.               Simple.

Age support
assistance systems.

We let you
take the lead.

FACTS

  1. More than eighty households in Vienna are involved in an 18-month trial of the WAALTeR tablet and the Smart Watch with emergency button.
  2. 78% of Austrians aged between 60 and 69 years use the internet. Only 38% of the over-70s do so. Public initiatives are needed in order to include older people in an increasingly digitized world.

The research project WAALTeR (Wiener Active and Assisted Living Testregion) looks into ways of exploiting the growing digitalization of every day life for seniors. New technologies and services are employed to keep older people in touch with their community and to extend the time the elderly can remain in their habitual environment and enjoy an autonomous life. Health care, safety and mobility support serve to maintain a high quality of life for seniors. First responses from over eighty Viennese trial households have shown that seniors have a keen interest in the new digital possibilities and gain a lot of value from them in their everyday lives.

www.waalter.wien

Photo: © Bohmann/Andrew Rinkhy

„I belong to a generation who grew up without mobile phones, the internet and tablets. Learning about project WAALTeR got me interested. As soon as I had attended the first information event, I knew that I wanted to join this project. Participating in this scheme is increasing my digital abilities and reducing some of the insecurities I have using a tablet. I am a very active person myself (I volunteer as a carer in the City of Vienna contact visitor service for seniors, for example), and I think it is important to become more familiar with these technologies so that I will be able to handle them when I am older. I use my tablet very regularly, and like reading the daily papers and accessing the events calendar. The route finder is very useful; it has added events notices. The size of the symbols and the easy navigation make it easy to use. It’s a fun, low-pressure way to becoming more comfortable with using these technologies. Using a smart watch and telemedicine are certainly means of supporting an independent and autonomous experience of older age.“ Susanne Biri, WAALTeR user

This post is also available in: German