The VISOR project: Virtual coachIng Services for OldeR adults

In this paper we present an approach for providing virtual coaching services for older adults, in the context of the VISOR project. In brief, coaching consists a method for development, involving a coach and a learner (coachee) and focuses on a specific goal. The coach supports, shapes, reinforces some desired behavior, by training and guidance, while the learner sets a goal of development and aims to achieve it by interacting with the coach. Moreover, health/life coaching is a means of achieving some health-related/wellness goals in order to enhance the well-being of individuals. We provide an end-to-end approach for virtual coaching, which is IoT-ready and is based on the analysis of multimodal, multisensory data. Upon analysis of sensor measurements, decision making takes place and the users’ behavior (activities, emotions, events etc.) is recognized. All these data are then used for virtual coaching, through the users’ smartphone or smartwatch. We present the service-oriented architecture of VISOR, several methods for behavior recognition that have already been developed, along with preliminary results and future goals.