Leader: Tiziana Ferrante (SAPIENZA). Other collaborators: Teresa Villani, Federica Romagnoli (SAPIENZA)
This task involves evaluating existing housing assets to accommodate home healthcare activities. According to a requirement-performance approach, based on ergonomic, logistical, and technical requirements linked to use scenarios for home care, new computer-based design tools will be implemented to conduct multi-criteria assessments. The general objective is to promote therapeutic environments of daily life while preserving their familiar aspect. By verifying that the domestic space satisfies a high level of safety, comfort, and usability, the aim is to foresee any critical issues that can be triggered in case of compromised health and autonomy conditions, guide the technical choices of intervention, and inform the decision-making process.
Regarding the first intermediate goal aimed at defining the needs of older adult home care recipients and their caregivers, the dissemination phase of two questionnaires continued from November to March. The first targeted family caregivers and health and social care professionals to identify the main challenges of home care activities in the person-space interaction.
The second was directed at the Age-It research groups to map the Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies under development to deepen the user-device interaction and their integration into the homes.
To date, devices designed by 13 Tasks within Spoke 9 have been analyzed according to: intended users as direct operators and/or indirect beneficiaries, market diffusion prospects, and spatial characteristics affecting the integrability of the "hard" components.
Concerning the second intermediate goal, focusing on defining the optimal characteristics of domestic spaces for home care, the analysis of 25 case studies of "smart homes for home care" has led to the identification of technological solutions related to the configuration and characterization of spaces and furnishings, as well as the integration of AAL devices. These solutions have been categorized into six classes of requirements: Safety, Comfort, Usability, Aesthetics, Management, and Integrability. Each solution was also examined for its correlation with the following sustainable design principles: flexibility/removability; reversibility; use of materials and products with low environmental impact; minimal intervention; and reduction of energy consumption during the home's operational phase.
For the third intermediate goal, aimed at implementing a BIM-based system to evaluate adaptive intervention alternatives for housing, with Task 1.6 we defined the operational framework of a new tool to simulate the bedroom environment configuration considering the health conditions of two Personas.
Starting from the health condition codification (ICF, ICD) and a BIM model of the bedroom (IFC), the system proposes a series of assistive devices and furnishings following the ISO 9999:2022 classification and checks the fulfillment of spatial requirements that ensure safety, comfort, and usability of the spaces and allow the integration of the selected devices.
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications:
In relation to the expected outcomes from the research activities of Task 1.3, the implications for aging policies involve promoting home adaptation interventions so that the existing housing stock is prepared to accommodate Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technologies and facilitate home care activities. The anticipated results also aim to simultaneously align measures targeted at making accommodations age-friendly with ongoing policies in the European context (see Renovation Wave Strategy) that encourage housing renovations adhering to principles of sustainability and circular economy.
The articulation of end-user needs requires the industry to develop flexible, reversible, and minimally invasive home care devices and furnishings while also considering the domestic aspect of the dwellings. In this direction, the expected impact includes fostering closer collaboration between manufacturers and designers to create more effective solutions, particularly in terms of customization and integration respecting various configurations and characteristics of the domestic space.
Regarding the implications for architectural design practices, the proposed decision support tool aims to objectively focus, in the preliminary phases of domestic adaptation projects, on the main requirements that enable more effective use of spaces and better integration of AAL devices tailored to the diverse health conditions of the older adult. This tool will allow designers to more accurately evaluate intervention alternatives to support the selection of the best solutions.
Please see the next reporting period.
During the reporting period, the research activities involved the analysis of the results of questionnaires addressed to caregivers providing home care, which made it possible to identify the most impacted environments by the main challenges in the person-space interaction, contributing to the definition of the "needs framework" of the older adult user and caregiver.
With respect to this framework, the optimal requirements (of Safety, Comfort, Usability, Appearance, Management and Integration) of home care spaces were defined through a literature review and the identification of technical solutions (best practices) of configuration, characteristics of spaces and integration of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) devices derived from the case study analysis of "smart home for home care" previously carried out.
These interim results will be useful in structuring "guidelines for adaptability of spaces for home care."
A further research objective concerns the implementation of a BIM-based tool to evaluate intervention alternatives for housing adaptability, starting from the bedroom environment. Concerning this objective, activities carried out in collaboration with Task 1. 6-WP1 (CNR-STIIMA) during the reporting period involved the modelling of use cases with the BIM Authoring Autodesk Revit software and the export of some datasets within the Grasshopper visual programming environment, to enable through the Buildings and Habitats object Model (BHoM), the exchange and correlation of information related to the conditions of the older adult user, the assistive devices needed, and the spatial and technological characteristics of the environment that may condition their integrability.
During the reporting period, activities focused on the development of guidelines for the adaptability of spaces designated for home care, based on the set of requirements (Safety, Comfort, Usability, Aesthetics, Management, and Integrability) of the spaces previously defined through the study of user needs (older adult home care recipients and caregivers).
These guidelines will constitute the first deliverable of WP1, titled “Guidelines for the design of technological interfaces in the built environment with integration of user-friendly devices for the elderly” (M24).
The guidelines focus on the most relevant spaces for home care: entrance, bedroom, and bathroom. For each of these spaces, the following were defined:
Alternative intervention scenarios were then formulated and hierarchized based on their impact, depending on the involvement of furniture, finishes, structural components, envelope, and systems.
For each scenario, the following were outlined: the proposed intervention; the category of intervention (with reference to the Building Code - D.P.R. 380/01); potential historical and landscape constraints; main cost items; and currently available financial incentives.
The proposed design solutions are summarized in a synoptic framework designed to facilitate the selection of the most suitable options based on specific needs and intervention priorities.
Concerning the objective of implementing a BIM-based tool to evaluate intervention alternatives for housing adaptability, starting from the bedroom environment, activities carried out in collaboration with Task 1.6-WP1 (CNR-STIIMA) during the reporting period focused on:
Finally, in December, the conference “Inhabitable Future: Spaces, objects, and intelligent devices supporting aging” was organized. The event was held on December 18, 2024, at the Faculty of Architecture of Sapienza University under the scientific supervision of the PI of this Task.
In January, the activities focused on the submission of Deliverable 1 of WP1, titled "Guidelines for the design of technological interfaces in the built environment with integration of user-friendly devices for older adults". More specifically, Task 1.3 contributed to Section 4: “The design of space adaptability for Home Care”.
In parallel, the collaboration with Task 1.6–WP1 (CNR-STIIMA) continued, aimed at the development of a BIM-based tool to support the evaluation of alternative design solutions for home adaptability, starting with the bedroom environment. During the reporting period, the activities included the definition of a script within a visual programming software (VPL) to preliminarily extract specific information from the BIM model of the bedroom and export it into a CSV file. This file serves as a data exchange interface with ontology development software.
In particular, the extracted information refers to the free volume available within the bedroom (excluding furniture and equipment), as well as some key performance characteristics of walls and floors (e.g., mechanical strength, fire resistance, etc.). This information will be used to assess the suitability of the environment to host assistive devices that are 'suggested' by the ontology based on the specific health conditions of the older adult.
At the same time, a qualitative survey was launched through a questionnaire addressed to designers, in order to explore their expectations regarding the potential introduction of digital tools to support design processes, specifically in the context of housing for ageing in place.
During the reporting period, research activities continued in collaboration with Task 1.6-WP1 (CNR-STIIMA), aimed at developing a BIM-based tool to evaluate intervention alternatives for housing adaptability, starting from the bedroom environment.
Work carried out in this period focused on refining algorithmic logics within the visual programming environment Dynamo, specifically:
These features will be instrumental in assessing the suitability of the environment to accommodate assistive devices “recommended” by the ontology based on the specific health conditions of the older adult receiving care.
During the reporting period, research activities continued in collaboration with Task 1.6 – WP1 (CNR-STIIMA), aimed at developing a BIM-based tool designed to support the evaluation of alternative intervention strategies for the adaptability of domestic environments, with a particular focus on the bedroom, identified as the space most directly involved in home care activities.
The developed application enables the selection of a user profile (persona), described according to individual psycho-physical conditions based on the ICF – International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health. Each profile is associated with one or more assistive devices potentially useful for performing daily and care-related activities. Each device is characterized by its dimensions (bounding box) and by the technical element with which it can be integrated (for instance, a wall or a piece of furniture).
These data are cross-referenced with a 3D BIM-based model of a bedroom under study, allowing the application to automatically identify the devices compatible with the available space and existing technical elements. The selected devices are then generated within the BIM model (as cuboid representations), enabling the designer to position them and assess the feasibility of different spatial configurations.
At the end of the process, the application produces a summary report highlighting incompatible or “excluded” devices due to spatial or technical constraints. This functionality allows the designer to identify potential modifications to the environment, making it progressively more suitable to accommodate all necessary devices and, consequently, better tailored to the specific needs of the user under consideration.
Regarding the developed application, the activities focused primarily on the refinement of simplified user interfaces, designed to make the configuration process more intuitive and accessible even to professionals who are not experts in advanced digital tools. In parallel, a usability verification protocol was defined and addressed to a representative group of target users, consisting of architects and designers involved in the design of adaptable domestic spaces and the integration of assistive devices within living environments.
In parallel, a qualitative survey was carried out to identify the needs and expectations of professionals engaged in the reconfiguration of domestic environments for older adults or individuals with limited autonomy, particularly regarding the use of digital tools and AI-based design support systems.
For this purpose, a questionnaire was designed and administered to a sample of young Italian architects aged between 26 and 35, all with professional experience in residential design and, in some cases, in the reconfiguration of spaces for users with specific needs.
The survey explored their digital competencies, the difficulties encountered in adaptation projects, their knowledge of assistive technologies, and their willingness to adopt AI-based tools to support design decision-making — particularly in optimizing spatial layouts and selecting assistive devices based on user conditions.
The results revealed a widespread openness to adopting intelligent systems capable of integrating clinical, technical, and architectural information and of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among the different actors involved in the design process. The findings provide the foundation for the BIM-based system to be finalized and validated through testing with real users in the next phases of the project.
During the reference period, research activities carried out in collaboration with Task 1.6–WP1 focused on the validation of the Decision Support System (DSS) developed within the project. The validation involved 20 architects and aimed to assess system acceptability through the administration of the TAM3 model, collecting feedback on ease of use, perceived usefulness, critical issues, and short- and medium-term adoption intentions. Although further testing on larger samples is required, preliminary results indicate a good level of acceptance and high perceived usefulness.
These validation activities represented a preparatory step toward the consolidation and integration of the DSS into a broader BIM-based system supporting the multi-criteria evaluation of domestic adaptation interventions for Home Care, structured into several domains of analysis, which are described below. Specifically, the functionalities of the DSS developed within Task 1.6 were integrated into the “Integrability” evaluation domain, which assesses the spatial and technical compatibility of assistive devices with respect to the existing dwelling.
Research activities within Task 1.3 therefore focused on the refinement and operational application of this BIM-based system, starting from the digital modelling of smart prototypical environments for Home Care. These environments were conceived as reference configurations representative of recurring conditions within the existing residential building stock.
The prototypical environments, developed on the basis of specific care-related requirement frameworks, integrate invariant provisions (i.e. an access point, an opening to the outside, and a minimum set of furniture, sanitary equipment, and assistive devices) and scenario-dependent variables (additional provisions, varying across different configurations).
Taken together, these environments constitute an initial reference repertoire to support the identification of technical intervention solutions for real housing cases requiring adaptation.
In parallel, the structuring of the multi-criteria evaluation system integrated into the BIM-based tool was completed. Seven evaluation domains (Layout/Proximity between spaces; Safety of use; Visual comfort; Usability; Management; Integrability; Impact of interventions) and eighteen criteria were defined and translated into computable success indicators derived from geometric and informational data contained in the BIM model. A weighted objective function was therefore established, with customizable weights based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to return a normalized quality index (0–1) and penalize highly invasive intervention solutions. Evaluation results are provided in real time through synthetic visualizations (spider charts), supporting both the assessment of existing conditions and the comparison of alternative intervention options.
The system was applied to a real pilot case within the collaboration with Azienda Sociosanitaria Ligure n.4 (ASL4), as part of the “Neirone in Salute” project. The selected intervention option was further refined and represented through an immersive 360° digital prototype aimed at disseminating results and promoting replicable solutions.
All activities are described in greater detail in Output 3 of WP1, “Prototypes for smart housing and optimization of living environments for ageing people”. In particular, Task 1.3 contributed to Section 1, “Smart Prototypes for Home Care”.
Scientific publications
Dissemination Events