Activity profile: AIJU briefing

AIJU research centre is a private, non-profit-making association committed to pursuing the Technological Innovation, R&D, increasing competitiveness of companies and improving the product quality among regional industry.

Our capabilities and technologies have been constantly evolved since AIJU was founded back in 1985 so as to adapt to new industry requirements and trends and ensure the best possible services achieving a remarkable level of confidence and cooperation.

During 2009 the number of associates surpassed 580, most of them SMEs, which proves AIJU does play a key role for the benefit of the regional industry by supporting our associates through our four specific departments: Laboratory-Product Development Engineering, Management & Innovation, Pedagogy-Product and Training and specific areas: Product development and Rapid Manufacturing, energy, product safety, hydrogen and fuel cells, etc.

AIJU's activities as far as ICT is concerned are based on Technology and gaming combination to help social integration, healthy childhood, learning, healthy and active ageing, inclusion of disabled and elderly people, eAccessibility and others of the same kind through added value games.

AIJU’s team comprises psychologists, educationalists, teachers and sociologists and has sufficient capacity to assess in aspects relating to human development, learning, play activities, consumer trends and behaviours, the search for new market opportunities etc. In addition, it provides companies with the necessary guidance for reaching the optimum level of adaptation of the game-toy to the user, by carrying out studies on the play value, duration, manipulability, suitability for age, educational quality etc.

Furthermore, AIJU has a close collaboration with 500 teachers and experts in education, universities and research centres as well as 200 elderly care and leisure centres that can be useful for user-involment purposes, test and validation of developments in terms of usability, acceptance, effect, etc.
In addition to the work of assessment for the industry and public entities, AIJU undertakes continuous research and is part of the International Toy Research Association (ITRA). Moreover, AIJU has a valuable experience in co-ordinating European projects from different programmes ICT, Innovation, Esprit, etc… since 1991.

Research projects relating to the AAL programme include:

• Veritas, Virtual and Augmented Environments and Realistic UserInteractions To achieve Embedded Accessibility DesignS – 7FP
• Replay, gaming technology platform for social reintegration of marginalised youth – 7FP
• Eldergames, Development of High Therapeutic value IST-based Games for monitoring and improving the quality of life of elderly people – VI FP
• “The Dynamic Garden" – Fitness, Movement, and Health for all Ages in Public Space – EUREKA
• GameTools , “Advanced Tools for Developing Highly Realistic Computer Games  – VI FP
• iRomec, “Interactive Robotic Social Mediators as Companions” - VI FP
• Active play, “Interactive games for enhancing sport and health habits through advanced visualization and communication technologies”- IBEROEKA
• “Studies in New Ways for Marketing Toys as Didactic Resources ”
• “Educational Research for the Adaptation of Traditional Games and Toys to Advanced Information Systems (internet and multimedia technologies)”.
• “Improvements and Application of Games Technology in Virtual Reality and Web Content”.