PleasureHome – Bringing Safety and Pleasure to the Home of the Elderly

The aging of society is one of the main challenges many countries face in today's globalising world. Within the framework of the PleasureHome initiative, an international and interdisciplinary consortium of researchers from Europe and South Korea will dedicate their research activities to resolving issues with respect to an aging society. Social and technological innovations developed within the PleasureHome initiative aim to support elderly residents in maintaining a high level of self-confidence and autonomy which allows them to prolong a healthy and comfortable life in their own home.

The twofold objective of this research initiative is to enhance the quality of life of older people on the one hand, and to simultaneously strengthen the European industrial base on the other. A demographic change does not necessarily need to solely imply challenges. It can also provide opportunities for citizens as well as the social and healthcare systems, the industry and the economy.

In short, PleasureHome addresses a variety of issues on different levels, which for instance concern our living environment, our personal physical and mental health as well as the inability to provide required services at a reasonable cost. Strategically it is devised as a road-mapping activity for Korean – EU transregional partners to cooperate within the pursuit of advancing Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). The technology is non-intrusive and adaptable to changing individual needs.

PleasureHome is therefore part of the KORANET-Programme. KORANET (Korean scientific cooperation network with the European Research Area) aims to intensify and strengthen S&T cooperation between Korea and Europe. The project is conducted under the auspices of the 7th EU Research Framework Programme and will receive funding from January 2009 until December 2012. Eleven partners from nine European countries and Korea form the so-called KORANET consortium. The five work packages include analytical and foresight exercises, the development of a joint funding programme for European-Korean research activities and the organisation of conferences and workshops.