Assistive technologies at home and in the workplace—a field of research for exercise science and human movement science

Since its existence, the European Review of Aging and Physical Activity (EURAPA) used different forms and contents of editorial articles.Beside referencing and summarizing the current issue, introductory overviews on research subjects are presented, thus drawing attention to fields considered in EURAPA, to stimulate potential research and submission of manuscripts to the journal.Such topics were, e.g.peak exercise [16], socioeconomic perspectives [14], or theory-driven evaluation [4].The present editorial addresses technical assistance for elderly persons.During the last years, the term "ambient assisted living" (AAL) has been established for this field of research, mostly by national and European Union (EU) funding agencies, including science and technology [1,19].This field is of a highly interdisciplinary nature, oriented towards practical solutions, and it includes behavioural and technical aspects.This corresponds to the nature of exercise science and human movement science, which has been described to be "technological" from a theory of science view [3].In addition, physical activity is an integral part of daily living.Therefore, AAL seems to be an interesting and stimulating field.In the following sections, firstly, the AAL concept is introduced.Secondly, a sketch on concepts to improve and prolong working life is presented, including examples for research questions from a sport and exercise science point of view.Some concluding remarks contain practical information on calls and research frameworks. Ambient assisted living-an introductionAAL is an "umbrella term" for products and services, designed to support and make daily activities easier for old or disabled people by technological means [7].Several developments and goals in policy, society and in technology and economics have been combined to initiate progress.The research should:While motor control and learning, physical activity, mobility or exercise hardly appear in the focus of the current AAL-research frameworks, these and other topics of human movement and exercise sciences still are an implicit part of