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A collaborative research project, with work carried out jointly by the Institut des Sciences du Mouvement and AG2R La Mondiale
Seniors: using new technologies to keep active and healthy
Wednesday, November 10, 2021As
part of the "Active Aging 2.0" Chair, ISM and AG2R La Mondiale have initiated, since 2018, a collaboration dedicated to research and innovation for physical activity and cognitive stimulation in healthy seniors.
Preventing the effects of aging
Preventing the effects of aging is a key issue for AG2R La Mondiale. Keen to support structuring projects in this field, the social protection group has found in the Institut des Sciences du Mouvement a partner that meets its expectations: to develop rigorous research into the major economic, health and social issues of today and tomorrow. The
aim of the "Active Aging 2.0" Chair is first and foremost to study the tangible benefits of different types of exercise on the health and quality of life of active seniors who wish to remain so.
"We're working on avenues that can be considered as "intuitions" for tomorrow in terms of prevention/aging well, with an eye to the future.
We think about trends, we explore them, in the sense of foresight "
Jean-Jacques Temprado, Scientific Director of the Chair at ISM.
Another objective is to establish functional links between the various (and numerous) players in the ageing ecosystem (researchers, funders, players in the field, companies) in order to enhance the effectiveness of preventive actions. In this context, AG2R La Mondiale positions itself as an intermediary and prescriber between academic researchers and field players.
The scientific approach
The Chair includes a research program, an innovation program (intervention engineering, development of new demonstrators), and a knowledge dissemination component for the general public: conferences, a recommendation guide produced with students from the "Adapted Physical Activity" course (among others). In concrete terms, this means developing training programs including natural activities (Nordic walking, Tai Chi, etc.), circuit-training and video games, to answer the question: what benefit(s) will seniors derive from this in their daily lives?
A multi-disciplinary project
This innovative initiative is above all multi-disciplinary. It comprises 3 axes, the first two of which focus on the effectiveness of new technologies (Virtual Reality, exergames), while the third, which is cross-disciplinary, looks at their acceptability:
- Maintaining and improving physical and cognitive capital;
- Maintaining mobility to prevent the risk of falls;
- Acceptability of new technologies by seniors.
These 3 areas involve specialists from a wide range of disciplines (behavioral neuroscience, human and social sciences, cognitive psychology, motivational psychology, engineering, etc.), who are part of the various ISM teams.
A collaborative project
Again with a view to creating synergies between players in the field, the know-how required to carry out the project as a whole is also mobilized from companies to, for example, test/upgrade equipment. The Chair also involves institutional, association and hospital partners: the Région Sud through the involvement of the OIR Silver Economie, the Stade Marseillais Université Club (SMUC), the AP-HM via the sports medicine department, not forgetting the senior participants, grouped together in a cohort of around a hundred people. Several pieces of equipment have been acquired, including original experimental devices.
Une piste de marche : assuré pour éviter qu’il ne tombe, le sujet est entraîné à marcher dans des environnements accidentogènes, simulés par un casque de Réalité Virtuelle. L’objectif de cet équipement est d’apprendre aux séniors à s’adapter à des environnements plus réalistes et de prévenir le risque de chutes.
Des “Exergames”. Par exemple, un « cyber-cycle » sur lequel le sujet pédale dans un contexte d’environnement virtuel, dans des situations simulées diverses mais également un « Exercube”, qui est un cube immersif dans lequel le sujet peut jouer avec le corps en entier en utilisant des mouvements complexes et un niveau d’effort plus élevés qu’avec les solutions classiques (e.g., Wii fit).
DOMAINES D’EXPERTISE : neurosciences du comportement, psychologie expérimentale, ergonomie physique & cognitive
The chair also has experimental console games available, with the possibility of developing their own games to suit seniors, as existing products on the market are not or only poorly adapted to seniors. These games, for example, are being developed in collaboration with Prolexia, a company based in the South of France which offers products based on Simulation, Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence.
Project prospects
This partnership project will evolve by integrating a new dimension: the supervision of physical activity for seniors via mobile robots piloted by remote sports coaches. "UBBO", a tele-presence robot developed by Axyn Robotique, will be used for the study. The aim is to explore whether these devices are well accepted by coaches and participants, and also to integrate the human dimension, with the apprehension that may exist among some subjects that technologies could replace humans. One of the aims is to show that group training has beneficial effects, even at a distance.