The Problem: Mobility, a Challenge for Seniors’ Autonomy
With a growing proportion of seniors in the Quebec population, maintaining autonomy is becoming a crucial issue. Aging is often accompanied by a decline in physical and cognitive abilities, limiting mobility and consequently, independence and social participation. Current travel assistance tools, designed for the general public, do not meet the specific needs of seniors, such as avoiding steep hills or snowy sidewalks.
Our Solution: Mobilainés, a Tailor-Made Travel Tool
To meet this need, the Mobilainés project aims to develop a unique multimodal tool that allows seniors to move “where, when, and how they want.” Based on a “living-lab” co-construction approach, Mobilainés provides personalized trips by developing a multi-criteria (e.g., distance, stairs, toilet access) and multi-modal (e.g., car, bus, walking) planning algorithm.
Key Features
Personalized Planning
The algorithm takes user preferences into account (e.g., avoiding slopes, snowy sidewalks) to propose truly adapted routes.
Multimodal Approach
Integrates multiple modes of transport (car, taxi, bus, bike, walking) to offer the best possible combination.
Intelligent Recommendation
After analyzing travel behaviors, the tool will develop a recommendation system to suggest relevant routes.
Iterative Interdisciplinary Co-creation Process
The development of Mobilaînés is based on an iterative co-creation process that brings together occupational therapists, aging experts, interdisciplinary researchers, and engineers from AMI-Lab. Through workshops, field trials, and successive validation phases, the tool continuously evolves to remain relevant, reliable, and closely aligned with the needs of older adults.
Co-creation with Seniors
The project is developed in direct collaboration with seniors to ensure that the final solution perfectly meets their needs.
Project Team
Véronique Provencher
Professor, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke
Associate Researcher at the AMI-Lab
Bessam Abdulrazak
Professor, Department of Computer Science, Université de Sherbrooke
Director of the AMI-Lab
Sahar Tahir
Ph.D. Student
Supervisors: Prof. Bessam Abdulrazak and Prof. Véronique Provencher
Fall 2020 – Present
Mireille Gagnon-Roy
Co-development of a technological solution to facilitate the communication of personal and medical information between residents and their circle of care
September 2023–Present