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ACROSSING · Project

Smart Home Platform That Helps Elderly People Live Independently Longer

healthPrototypeTRL 4Thin data (2/5)
acrossing-itn.eu

Imagine your grandparents' home could quietly watch over them — noticing if they skipped meals, fell, or forgot to take medication — and alert you or a nurse without anyone wearing clunky gadgets. That's what ACROSSING worked on: connecting sensors, software, and home automation into a flexible system for assisted living. They trained 15 early-stage researchers across 28 organisations in 12 countries to build and test these technologies. The result was four working demonstrators covering different care scenarios, plus an open-access data repository so others can build on their work.

By the numbers
15
complementary research projects developed
4
application demonstrators built and tested
28
partner organisations in consortium
12
countries represented
6
SMEs in the consortium
21
total project deliverables
The business problem

What needed solving

Europe's ageing population is growing fast, but deploying smart home solutions for elderly care at scale remains difficult. The technology landscape is fragmented — sensors, software, and home automation systems from different vendors don't talk to each other, and there are no established best practices for what works in real care scenarios. Care providers and technology companies struggle to build reliable assisted living systems without starting from scratch every time.

The solution

What was built

The project delivered four application demonstrators covering four distinct assisted living categories (D2.8), proving that interoperable smart home technology can work across different care scenarios. They also created an open-access data repository (D2.9) with shared software and datasets, plus 21 total deliverables spanning the underlying sensor, automation, and software technologies.

Audience

Who needs this

Home care agencies scaling remote monitoring for elderly clientsSmart home device companies expanding into the assisted living marketHealth insurers piloting technology to reduce elderly hospitalisation costsResidential care operators looking to augment staff with sensor-based monitoringTelecare and telehealth platform companies seeking interoperable sensor integration
Business applications

Who can put this to work

Elderly Care & Assisted Living
mid-size
Target: Home care service providers and residential care operators

If you are a home care provider dealing with rising demand and staff shortages for elderly clients — this project developed four application demonstrators for assisted living scenarios using sensors and home automation. The open-access data repository and interoperable technology platform could help you deploy monitoring systems that reduce the need for constant in-person supervision across multiple care settings.

Smart Home & IoT
SME
Target: Smart home device manufacturers and system integrators

If you are a smart home company looking to expand into the assisted living market — this project built flexible, interoperable technology infrastructure tested across four application categories. With 7 industry partners and 6 SMEs already involved in the consortium of 28 organisations, the open-source software and datasets provide a foundation you can integrate into your existing product lines for the senior care segment.

Health Insurance & Telecare
enterprise
Target: Health insurers and telecare platform operators

If you are a health insurer or telecare operator looking to reduce hospitalisation costs for elderly policyholders — this project created sensor-based home monitoring demonstrators validated across four real application scenarios. The platform approach, developed by 9 universities and 7 research organisations across 12 countries, offers evidence-backed technology you could pilot to keep clients safely at home longer.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to implement this smart home assisted living system?

The project did not publish pricing or per-unit cost data. Since ACROSSING was a Marie Skłodowska-Curie training network focused on research and researcher development, commercial pricing was not part of the scope. Any implementation would require separate product development and costing.

Can this scale to thousands of homes or care facilities?

The project produced four application demonstrators for four application categories, proving the concept works across different care scenarios. However, as a training network with 15 research projects, the outputs are at demonstrator level — scaling to large commercial deployments would require further engineering and productisation work.

Who owns the intellectual property, and can I license it?

ACROSSING committed to sharing software and datasets using open-source technologies, and produced an open-access data repository (deliverable D2.9). IP from the 15 individual research projects would be held by the respective consortium members. Contact De Montfort University (coordinator) to discuss licensing specifics.

What specific technologies were actually built and tested?

The consortium delivered four application demonstrators covering four main application categories in assisted living (deliverable D2.8), plus an open-access data repository (D2.9). The underlying technologies span home automation, sensors, and software — developed to be flexible and interoperable across different real application scenarios.

How mature is this technology — is it ready for deployment?

Based on available project data, the technology reached demonstrator level with four working application prototypes. The project was a training network (MSCA-ITN-ETN), which means its primary goal was researcher training rather than commercial product development. Further engineering would be needed before market deployment.

Is there regulatory approval for use in healthcare settings?

The project data does not mention regulatory approvals or medical device certification. Since ACROSSING focused on technology development and training at demonstrator level, any commercial deployment in healthcare would likely require compliance with medical device regulations and data protection standards in the target market.

Consortium

Who built it

The ACROSSING consortium is unusually broad for a training network, with 28 partners spread across 12 countries including major EU markets (Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Italy) plus the UK, Switzerland, and China. The mix is well-balanced: 9 universities and 7 research organisations provide the scientific depth, while 7 industry partners and 6 SMEs bring real-world application expertise. The 25% industry ratio shows meaningful private-sector involvement, though the coordinator is an academic institution (De Montfort University, UK). For a business looking to adopt these technologies, the wide consortium means multiple potential technology suppliers and integration partners across Europe, but also that IP and know-how may be fragmented across many organisations.

How to reach the team

De Montfort University (UK) coordinated the project. Use SciTransfer's coordinator lookup service to find the right contact person and their email.

Order a report on this consortiumSee DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY profile →
Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how ACROSSING's smart home assisted living technologies could work for your business? SciTransfer can connect you directly with the research team and help you evaluate fit. Contact us for a free one-page technology brief.

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