Development of Innovative Solutions by Living Lab (1/2)

This article is written by Ms. Kazuko YUMA , Chief Fellow, Institute for International Socio-Economic Studies（NEC Group）

Settlement of Social Issues by Co-creation

As consumers needs are so diversified lately, it is getting difficult that private companies develop new products and service only with their own resources, so open innovations strategies are getting focused and valued that global resources are openly utilized.

Development has been progressed from the previous stage that co-development is made between private companies to the new stage that the settlement of social issues is aimed by co-creation involving users and regional communities.This development is named as “Open Innovation 2.0” and the method employed there is “Living Lab” which is getting popular these days.

Northern Europe playing leading role
Living Lab has been employed among European countries since 2000s and northern European countries have been playing leading role.

Since the start of development, stake holders such as users, administrators, and NPO, Non-Profit-Organization participate and propose mutually ideas to create new products and service to satisfy users requirement and also give ideas and hints for improvement in the management cycle of PDCA.

Co-creation by utilizing Living lab is expanding to all the fields, and, health care field is no exemption.

While more and more health care is exercised from the nursing care facilities to individual home, “Dementienhuis (Dementia House)” was opened in October 2016 by Tangenborgh, health care provider, in the Netherlands. The Dementia House is a smart house where people are studying and developing the methods to assist dementia patients to continue their self-supporting life.

It might be difficult that dementia patients living alone at home spend their self-supporting life without any assistance, but, ICT can contribute that they can continue to spend their days at home longer.

The Dementia House has the function of Living Lab which contributes to improve the level of nursing care and safety of dementia patients at home. 

Introduction of IoT devices
In Dementia House rooms are equipped with simple furniture with Nordic design and there are such facilities and devices installed as bed with sensor to prevent fall from bed, device to assist medicine taking, device to prevent house key from being lost, sensor to flush the toilet, and communication robots.

Customized to each patients

There are unfortunate cases that aged dementia patients are carried in emergency to the hospital because they forget to take meal or water and get dehydrated.  A water pitcher with sensor named “Obli” is customized to the requirements of each patient such as volume of water to take at a time and the fixed schedule of time.When the time comes, the red lamp on “Obli” flickers and alarm rings. If the patient notices the alarm and drinks water, the lamp is back to green. The control board in the kitchen is equipped with sensor to detect heat and steam at ventilator to monitor whether shutting-off is being forgotten or not. Once a month the meeting is organized among academia to study dementia. private companies, family of dementia patient, nursing care staff of Tangenborgh and also engineers to discuss if there is any points to be improved with the facilities and devices and also with nursing care service.

In the future they are planning to ask dementia patients themselves to actually live and spend time at Dementia House and to collect their frank opinions and comments to find out if there is any possible facilities or devices or services to be further improved or added.