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Population ageing is a major challenge affecting the future of science and technology
policy and governance in industrialised societies. In this context, a key element is
ensuring adequate protection, safety and care for older people when needed. The
solution to enable active and healthy ageing is innovative technologies called
gerontechnologies, which support older people. However, there is a knowledge gap
regarding the systematic analysis and evaluation of gerontechnologies, which requires
research in theoretical and empirical aspects. There is a need to focus on developing
and supporting gerontechnologies to help older people reach their full potential in
different spheres of life. Research should focus on analysing these technologies, their
effectiveness and their impact on the quality of life of older people. This paper
evaluates, analyses and builds a ranking of several selected technologies: (1) the
wheelchair based on artificial intelligence Wheelie7, (2) the humanoid Rudy Robot,
and (3) the wristband/watch VitalBand. The research was conducted in Poland. Based
on a literature review, the authors identified relevant technologies to improve the
quality of life of older people. These technologies were then assessed by people over
40 against various criteria. This age group was chosen because the issues of
gerontechnology concern these people now in the context of their parents using the
technology and being potential users of gerontechnology in 20–30 years. The study
answered the following research questions: (1) What are the criteria for evaluating
technologies that enhance the quality of life for older individuals? (2) How were the
selected gerontechnologies evaluated? (3) How should the TOPSIS method be applied
to build a ranking of gerontechnologies? (4) Which of the selected gerontechnologies
was rated the highest by potential users?
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