About Legrand Care
Legrand Care develops and supplies digitally-enabled assistive living systems for health and social care sectors that help older people to live more independently for longer and more securely. Their smart wireless monitoring technologies create connected homes and care environments that monitor people’s daily routines, providing peace of mind to relatives and supporting caregivers. The company is part of the multinational Legrand Group which operates across 90 countries.
The challenge that the KTP was set up to address
Legrand Care’s suite of connected home sensors, personal alarms and Nurse Call systems support more than three million people worldwide. While these devices provide extensive data on a user’s patterns of behaviour, they are limited to being reactive in nature, only detecting a fall in an elderly person after it has happened, for example.
While many telemonitoring companies are currently working to improve the capability of their sensors, Legrand Care’s goal is to be the first to offer a telemonitoring system with the ability to predict its users’ needs proactively.
The company sees the potential to utilise vast quantities of existing sensor data on an individual’s day-to-day conditions and behaviour to predict when they might be at greater risk of incidents, like a fall. Changes in patterns could also indicate various issues like loneliness, dementia or depression. This would allow their system to signal the need for preventative care.
Why a KTP is the ideal route
Assistive-living technologies, like personal alarms or wearables, are often underutilised with users opting to switch them off or place them in a drawer. Commercial success for Legrand Care relies on both technological innovation and encouraging widespread adoption. Developing and commercialising a novel solution and deploying it in ways that are acceptable to users requires diverse new thinking, fresh perspectives and extensive academic insights.
The KTP brings together Legrand Care with multidisciplinary expertise across Aston University’s Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Application (ACAIRA) and the Aston Business School.
ACAIRA is recognised internationally for high-quality research and teaching in computer science and artificial intelligence (AI) and is part of the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. With a global network of partners, Aston Business School is part of an elite group of business schools and is highly ranked nationally for research that makes a sustainable difference to people, organisations and economies.
Researchers across both faculties are developing AI-based solutions to address critical social, health, and environmental challenges, including impactful KTP projects in advanced traffic monitoring, fraud detection and crop production. Their collaborative research contributes significantly to Aston University’s vibrant innovation ecosystem, delivering transformational change with industry partners at regional, national and international levels.
For this KTP, the academic team come from a range of different backgrounds, leveraging knowledge and expertise in product design engineering, data analytics, statistical modelling, machine learning, human behaviour, business model innovation and service design.
What the research involves
Using data collected from Legrand Care’s existing sensor suite, the project is developing ways to predict changes in an individual’s patterns of behaviour that might pose a risk to their independence or wellbeing. Using the academic team’s expertise in data analytics, machine learning and human behaviour, new research will develop and test the metrics needed to measure these changes.
However, evidencing that a system is successful at preventing falls presents a dilemma, particularly if the system is designed to signal that extra care is needed, and the person subsequently doesn’t fall. To overcome this, the team are developing and incorporating a series of parameters to estimate fragility into the system.
Crucially, this KTP project will determine an optimal range of sensors needed to collect enough data so the system is sufficiently predictive while being minimally disruptive. This involves qualitative research to understand user opinions. In addition, expertise in business model innovation will help to develop a commercially viable and affordable package of services, opening up potential routes to market for Legrand Care’s optimised product.
The research team
The KTP is led at Aston University by Dr Luis Manso, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Applied AI & Robotics at ACAIRA. With research expertise in active perception, assistive robotics, object detection and modelling, Dr Manso leads work to determine the optimal specification of sensors needed for a predictive system to function and supports the KTP Associate.
The team are supported by Dr Ahmad Beltagui, Associate Professor in the Aston Business School, with Dr Zhuangzhuang Dai and Dr Martin Rudorfer, who are both Lecturers in Applied AI & Robotics at ACAIRA.
Dr Beltagui’s research focuses on design and innovation, with a focus on the application of digital technologies and human-centered design. His expertise will be key to developing ways for Legrand Care to market the predictive software to customers. Dr Zhuangzhuang Dai, a previous KTP Associate, brings expertise in microcrontrollers, wireless communication, machine learning, sensors and simultaneous localisation and mapping. Dr Rudorfer brings expertise in robotics and autonomous systems, mathematics for AI and ethics in robotics and AI.
Marina Vicini is the KTP Associate. Alongside data collection and analytics, Marina bridges across the partnership, supporting both sides to benefit both commercially and academically from the project.
For Legrand Care, Inigo Ruiz, Product and Marketing Director, leads the project with support from Maria Pardo García, Product Manager.
What will change as a result of the KTP?
The KTP will deliver a scientifically validated blueprint for Legrand Care to develop and commercialise the world’s first-to-market predictive assisted-living system. With a predictive model of behaviour for assisted living, the company will be positioned to offer a system that provides the best possible service to vulnerable people in their homes, giving Legrand Care the competitive edge in the marketplace and generating new revenue streams. Staff will gain new technical skills and the capacity to develop and improve their technology in response to evolving user needs.
Broad benefits and impacts
This ‘next generation’ advancement in social care will enable Legrand Care to offer a future-proofed proactive wellbeing service, with potential to transform how the care sector enables people to live independently for longer and more securely. Preventing incidents in the home, like falls, will help to improve the long-term health and independence of older people so they can go about their day-to-day activities with confidence. The system has potential to facilitate better treatment and more personalised care from service providers. If adopted widely, this innovation could ease some of the pressures of ageing populations across health and care systems globally.
By being part of this KTP, the Aston University team will develop and apply predictive machine learning models in a way that helps to improve lives while advancing academic knowledge. The project could also support the development of future collaborations and funding.
What the partners say
Inigo Ruiz, Product and Marketing Director, Legrand Care:
"Alongside the team’s collaborative spirit to improve wellbeing for older people, one of the most exciting aspects of this project is the opportunity to access the breadth and depth of expertise from across Aston University. Offering a preventative, predictive system will transform how at-home services are delivered, helping care providers to give the best possible proactive care for older adults.”
Dr Luis Manso, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Applied AI & Robotics at ACAIRA:
“The level of involvement of every member of our multidisciplinary team on this KTP is really refreshing as we all bring different perspectives to the table. By applying our predictive models to a completely different domain we’re helping Legrand to not just develop new products, but to improve the products they already have.”
Dr Ahmad Beltagui, Aston Business School:
“This KTP is driving a big technical innovation in how we use sensor data, while putting user acceptance at the core of Legrand Care’s offering. As academics we’re always learning new things, and while it’s satisfying to publish research, it’s a different type of satisfaction to see the knowledge we’ve created is helping to improve lives.”
Marina Vicini, KTP Associate:
“Doing research that will be of real, practical use is what made this project really attractive to me. I’m learning from the different academic perspectives and seeing how to find and implement solutions that work for everyone.”