CAPTAIN pilot partners joined the 2019 OpenLivingLabDays Conference

CAPTAIN Living Lab partners (AUTH, AMEN, DCU and INTRAS) joined the 10th edition of the annual gathering of the European Network of Living Labs, the OpenLivingLabDays (OLLDs) Conference, which took place in Thessaloniki, Greece between 3-5 September 2019. The event hosted more than 450 participants from all over the world, including 41 hands-on workshops, 7 visits to the local innovation community, Breakfast Session with 5 of ENoLL’s Action Oriented Task Forces, 33 presentations of research papers and multiple occasions for networking.

Within the context of the OLLDs, CAPTAIN had a dynamic presence, organising a workshop, entitled “Let’s sail with CAPTAIN”.  In this co-design workshop, participants were asked to consider a number of ‘personas’ (typical older adults) and then discuss how technology could be built to best support them in the following areas of daily life: (i) overall health, (ii) fitness, (iii) nutrition, (iv) cognitive function and (v) emotional wellbeing. 

The workshop adopted a Participatory Design approach, in the form of a board game method that visualized issues, created dialogue and insights, implying the active involvement and collaboration of the intended users as they take part in the exploration of the potential needs of older adults and the possibilities that the technologies available as part of the CAPTAIN system can bring. The CAPTAIN workshop was one of the most successful in the OLLDs, in terms of both participation and positive feedback on its methodology and organization.

For the CAPTAIN pilot partners, it was a great opportunity to present their agile methodology and elaborate on CAPTAIN system’s user requirements with the help of experienced experts from the fields of the co-creation and healthcare living labs.

PM-15 Booth

The presence of CAPTAIN didn’t stop with the successful organization of the workshop, as with the contribution of all the technical partners, the project had also presence at the exhibition booth of the PM-15 H2020 projects, an initiative led by AUTH partner, during the three days of the conference. Participants of the OLLDs had the opportunity to interact with some of the features of the CAPTAIN box, the smart coach for older adults, be informed of the project objectives and progress so far. Furthermore, the joint presence of CAPTAIN with the rest PM-15 projects in the booth, triggered a new round of discussions among the projects for further collaboration, strategic partnerships and transfer of knowledge among the research consortia, in the framework of the “coaching alliance” that they have established during the last year and more.