This paper introduces the architecture of an emotion-aware
ambient intelligent and gerontechnological project named “Improvement of the
Elderly Quality of Life and Care through Smart Emotion Regulation”. The
objective of the proposal is to find solutions for improving the quality of
life and care of the elderly who can or wants to continue living at home by
using emotion regulation techniques. A series of sensors is used for monitoring
the elderlies’ facial and gestural expression, activity and behaviour, as well
as relevant physiological data. This way the older people’s emotions are
inferred and recognized. Music, colour and light are the stimulating means to
regulate their emotions towards a positive and pleasant mood. Then, the paper
proposes a gerontechnological software architecture that enables real-time, continuous
monitoring of the elderly and provides the best-tailored reactions of the
ambience in order to regulate the older person’s emotions towards a positive mood.
After describing the benefits of the approach for emotion recognition and
regulation in the elderly, the eight levels that compose the architecture are
described.