{"id":35088,"date":"2024-05-28T14:28:43","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T18:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/its-cuthemedev1.carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/?post_type=cu_story&p=35088"},"modified":"2025-03-24T15:29:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T19:29:05","slug":"expanding-canadian-investment-in-aging-in-place-technologies","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/engineering-design\/story\/expanding-canadian-investment-in-aging-in-place-technologies\/","title":{"rendered":"Expanding Canadian Investment in Aging in Place Technologies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n
\n
\n\n \n \n \n \n
\n\n
<\/div>\n \n
\n
\n\n

\n Expanding Canadian Investment in Aging in Place Technologies\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n \n

Carleton University AGE-WELL SAM3 National Innovation Hub Receives Funding to Assist Canadian SMEs in Furthering AgeTech Solutions<\/h2>\n \n \n

<\/p>\n \n \n

Tyrone Burke<\/em><\/p>\n \n

For older adults who want to live independently, transportation can be a major challenge. Many rely on public transportation to get them to appointments and shopping centres. But in Canada, public transportation is not always available, especially in rural communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RideShark Unified Mobility<\/a> spotted this transportation gap and sought to address it. The Ottawa-based tech company has expertise in developing multimodal commute management platforms for large organizations, but it was the first time the company developed software specifically for older users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany people want to age in place but face isolation due to inadequate transportation access,\u201d says Sharon Lewinson, the CEO of RideShark. \u201cWe sought to address this by developing a new module: On-Demand Community-based Carpooling,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RideShark was already capable of organizing volunteer drivers, but they knew that their app\u2019s interface would need to be modified for use by older adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt needs to be simple and easy to use,\u201d says Bruce Wallace, an adjunct professor in Carleton\u2019s Department of Systems and Computer Engineering<\/a> and Affiliated Investigator at Bruy\u00e8re Research Institute<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n

\u201cWhen you put technologies directly into the hands of the older adult, it\u2019s absolutely critical to think about design. Things as simple as button size and layout are quite significant and it\u2019s important to think through how they will be used.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Researchers at Carleton\u2019s AGE-WELL SAM3<\/sup> National Innovation Hub<\/a> worked with RideShark to ensure the new module is fit for purpose. SAM3<\/sup> stands for sensors and analytics for monitoring mobility and memory, and its researchers work with private sector companies to co-create technologies that enable an aging population to live independently. SAM3<\/sup> helps small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) leverage the knowledge of researchers from diverse academic backgrounds, including clinicians, engineers, industrial designers, health and social sciences researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
RideShark’s Unified Mobility app was developed in collaboration with a team of researchers from Carleton\u2019s AGE-WELL SAM3 National Innovation Hub.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndustrial designers are part of our team, and they have sub-specialized in how to design for people with some cognitive decline, or those who have a tremor caused by Parkinson’s,\u201d says Wallace. \u201cAs an engineer, I\u2019m aware of design, but it\u2019s a really unique skillset to be able to think about design in this way. It\u2019s one of the benefits of having an interdisciplinary research ecosystem.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RideShark\u2019s expertise centered around commuter transportation, so its new module was unchartered terrain \u2013 but SAM3<\/sup> helped them navigate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur collaboration with Carleton\u2019s AGE-WELL SAM3<\/sup> offered a fresh perspective,\u201d says Lewinson. \u201cSAM3<\/sup> facilitated the testing of the new module’s user interface and user experience with older adults. Not only has it enhanced its usability, it\u2019s also informing improvements to the user interface and user experience of RideShark’s core application, benefiting all potential users.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collaboration was made possible through funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP)<\/a>. NRC IRAP funding to Carleton University supported SAM3<\/sup> in working with Canadian companies with promising age tech products that need testing and validation. In addition to its work with RideShark, NRC IRAP support enabled SAM3<\/sup> to work with five other Canadian SMEs during its first year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n