Virtual & Augmented Reality Toolkit to Engage Seniors Brain With InTer-Generational UndErstanding Erasmus Project

Project Title

Virtual & Augmented Reality Toolkit to Engage Seniors Brain With InTer-Generational UndErstanding

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Intercultural/intergenerational education and (lifelong)learning; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

Technological change and population ageing are affecting how we work, and many adult learning systems are poorly prepared for the challenges ahead so, adult learning systems need to face the changing needs of the labour market and society .

The share of elderly people in the EU continues to increase. Senior population is known to play an essential role in the world economy and society on a global scale but they tend to be “excluded ” from a number of opportunities. So the European Commission defined as part of its inclusion policy, the goal of fostering ‘active ageing’ to contribute to economy and society.
(VR) and (AR) technologies are finding applications to help seniors to improve their lives ..

There is thus a need that both VR and AR are exploited within the EU to help seniors citizens to live longer , healthier and independently.

This combination of health and ICT tools is currently not covered in the key competences of adult education and to get future-ready, we must anticipate these skills to design of a better adult learning policy.

TARGETS :

DIRECT ONES :
– Care Attendance adult students and trainers . They will learn on a peer learning approach fro IT students and trainers how to develop customized Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Tools
for those seniors that are at the previous and first step of dementia .
– IT adult students and trainers who will learn from the Care Attendance ones about the real needs of “seniors”.
This will help them to develop VAR tools which will be adapted to seniors and which will help them to go on learning , to improve their memory and safety.

– EU Senior Citizens , they need to be motivated in exploiting VAR tools , and to be explained that they benefit their well being and skills.

A minimun of 200 students and 50 teachers 200 seniors will participate actively in the project .

INDIRECT ONES :

– A minimun of 20 Organizations that work for seniors and families who take care of them at home, they will offer better care services to the elderly.

– A minimun of 20 IT companies that will be interested in exploiting the results .

AIMS

1- To empower adult trainers and trainees in Care Attendance and IT with skills that will help to improve seniors’ lives , using a peer cooperative approach.
They will help each other to co-create joint solutions involving VAR (Virtual and Augmented Reality ) that will enhance seniors’ life and memory by using an intergenerational approach.

Result : IO1: Digital Gidelines for Adult Training in Inter-Generational Understanding (IGU) Using VAR.

2- To create 2 case-studies per country (O2) employing (VR) and (AR) , following IO1 so to improve the life and memory of senior citizens and by offering them activities and exchanges
of experiences with younger generations.

Result : IO2: Virtual Reality and Augmented reality Case Sudies.

3- Fostering an entrepreneurial spirit in Adult learners motivating them to exploit further content addressed to the needs of more seniors using VAR .

Result : IO3 : An Empowering Guide to Exploiting AR/VR with Seniors.

Participants will implement the VAR content on more seniors and will get the tools for acquiring entrepreneurial skills related to the topic .

4- To disseminate and exploit the project OER on an open web portal which will provide an entry point to freely access the main project results.

METHODOLOGY

It will combine a peer to peer approach among adult students teachers from different curriculums, an intergenerational approach: adult students will accompany the seniors in the Virtual travel to the life of their past. Emotion and technology linked to get a more inclusive society. A Flipped approach . Before being trained participants will watch the training videos and then during the training process they will become actors of the training an more active . A CLIL approach the outputs will be in English and in the languages of the partnership.

IMPACT
Assured in the target groups but also in European strategies in Adult Education and in the University Education , by promoting creativity, innovation, competitiveness but also social cohesion and integration using formal and non-formal methodologies VARTES applies the initiatives promoted by actors such as the EU Council, the Directorate General for Education and Culture, the Directorate General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.

VARTES will be a reference and actively used after the project finishes its financial period , a financial ,organizational and operational SUSTAINABILITY PLAN have been designed . Moreover, the DISSEMINATION channels will be operative after the projects finishes for 5 years more to reach be long term impact not only in the cities, countries participating in the project but in more countries in Europe.

Project Website

http://vartes.eu/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 110308 Eur

Project Coordinator

Stucom SA & Country: ES

Project Partners

• AKDENIZ UNIVERSITY
• UNIVERSITATEA DE VEST DIN TIMISOARA
• Fundacja Badz Aktywny
• MACDAC ENGINEERING CONSULTANCY BUREAU LTD – MECB