One of the winners of the Hungarian innovation competition of the D-CARE international project, OSSI Austria Association, had the opportunity to test its innovative AmigoBox device in a real environment. The prototype of the new device adapts to the needs of elderly people and helps them to stay in contact with their families, successfully passed the test. Including preparations, testing took a total of 5 months. Field testing started in June 2022 in the two test cities of Kecskemét and Kaba. With the help of volunteer facilitators, the elderly learned how to use the device and were introduced to several forms of communication, such as video calls, receiving messages and photos. For most of them, these were new and they were excited to discover a new world.

The final discussion, held online today, was also attended by the older users and developers themselves.

Ferenc Tóth, a tester from Kecskemét, summarised his experience. "Dad, why do I need this gidget? You can do all these things with a smartphone. I answered: yes, but AmigoBox is much easier for me to use. I can even use it without glasses because the icons and letters are very big". Ferenc is particularly happy with the new service, as his great-grandson is expected to be born in January and he will be able to follow his little one's progress online with the help of AmigoBox. After testing the device, he was inspired to use it in his everyday life.

Gusztav Ottrubay, President of the OSSI Austria Association, said. I was surprised to learn a lot of new things, features and needs that we hadn't even thought of during the development process. We were also able to fix bugs. It was extremely useful to have the opportunity to test it in 2 test cities. As a StartUp developer, it was also a new experience for us to see how much attention has to be paid to an innovation process and how important it is to have a good teamwork and people for a successful testing. Many thanks to the D-CARE project for the opportunity and to all participants for their positive and helpful attitude."

Hopefully, the cooperation does not end here: there is openness to test the final version from all participants.  

We are very proud of the successful work done by all involved - OSSI Austria and our Hungarian Partners Cedar Net Program, DBH Group and IFKA.