Grants and Contributions:
Title:
Privacy-Centric conversational agent for gameful communication to support aging in place
Agreement Number:
1044276
Agreement Value:
$320,966.00
Agreement Date:
Jul 2, 2026 - Mar 31, 2028
Description:
This project develops home-based gameful communication technologies to reduce social isolation among older adults and ease caregiver burnout, supporting aging in place. It employs a research-through-design approach to iteratively design, prototype, and evaluate a voice-enabled communication tool through four research activities: (1) participatory workshops with older adults and their families and engagement with an industry partner to inform prototype design and privacy-preserving voice interaction; (2) lab validation and medium-term field studies to refine usability and assess acceptance; (3) final prototyping, engagement with an industry partner, and a 4–6 week field study to evaluate long-term use and impact, and (4) engaging with our industry partner and community partner for knowledge mobilization. Key outputs include: • A functional prototype of a privacy-preserving and playful communication tool with an AI-based conversational agent • A design portfolio and guidelines for conversational agents in gameful communication tools • A technical report on technical requirements and evaluation results • A technical manuscript from a field evaluation in an operational environment
Organization:
National Research Council Canada
Expected Results:
In the short term, anticipated outcomes will be strengthened collaborations across industry, academia, and government to support research excellence. In the medium term, anticipated outcomes will be the development of new and potentially disruptive technologies with collaborators. In the long term, find collaborative solutions to public policy challenges and create stronger innovation systems.
Location:
Waterloo, Ontario, CA N2L 3G1
Reference Number:
172-2026-2027-Q2-1044276
Agreement Type:
Grant
Report Type:
Grants and Contributions
Recipient Business Number:
119260685
Recipient Type:
Academia
Amendment Date
0001-01-01T00:00:00
Recipient's Legal Name:
University of Waterloo
Federal Riding Name:
Waterloo
Federal Riding Number:
35114
Program:
Collaborative Science, Technology and Innovation Program - Collaborative R&D Initiatives
Program Purpose:
Collaborate on multiparty research and development programs to catalyze transformative, high-risk, high-reward research with the potential for game-changing scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs in priority areas.
NAICS Code:
541710
Amendments: