European countries face great challenges because the demographic structure in the EU is changing rapidly, due to reducing birth rates and increasing life expectancies. In 2012, 17% of Europeans were aged 65 and older and in 2020 this will rise to 28%. Meanwhile, the mobility needs of the elderly are also changing. Maintaining a driver's licence is an important issue of independence today, both for males and females. Also technological developments like the introduction of e-bikes enables access to other means of transport. These demographic and behavioural changes are of growing concern to mobility and road safety. While accident data show a decreasing number of fatalities and serious injuries on EU roads, recent data from the ERSO show an increasing proportion of elderly in the fatality statistics. This trend is a serious threat to the achievements of recent decades and poses a challenge that must be addressed to meet goals set for further reduction of road fatalities. Furthermore, there is an increasing rate of obesity in EU populations, which introduces changes in injury patterns and risks. The SENIORS project focuses on the protection of elderly and obese road users also by transferring nowadays younger generations’ safety standards. The objective is to develop the required understanding of accident scenarios, injury mechanisms and risks and to implement these findings in test tools and test and assessment procedures. An integrated approach considering the elderly in multiple transport modes is applied to reduce the portion of elderly fatalities. The small-scale project focuses on providing tools to encourage wider adoption of advanced restraint and pedestrian protection systems improving the protection of older and obese vulnerable road users. The activities consolidate results from previous EU projects such as THORAX and AsPeCSS and meet the needs defined by the GRSP IWG on Frontal Impact working on a near-term (2015) and mid-term (2020) update of UN-R94.

From government to consumer applications, personal identification is an ever increasing concern and demand. Fingerprints are the oldest and the most reliable features to be used because of their singularity and inalterability. The main goal of the PYCSEL project is to develop a low cost thin and large area fingerprint sensing surface enabling the personal identification via the development of a TOLAE technology, combining an organic sensor with a TFT matrix on a plastic foil. Based on the fact that personal recognition requires high resolution (500 dpi) and large (1 up to 4 fingers) sensors, the project focuses on the design, development and integration of a printed pyroelectric PVDF-based sensor layer on a IGZO TFT active matrix on foil and connected to an electronic driver and readout board, resulting in a thin fingerprint conformable sensor with no need for any optical bulky and/or costly extra components integration. Multiple fingerprints capture will be possible with the resulting large area hybrid system whose conformability allow easy further integration and ergonomic use especially for high growth and high value portable security uses. Therefore, it will offer differentiating properties for the portable governmental market as it will exhibit breakthrough in terms of mechanical robustness and conformability. Those advantages will also increase fingerprint sensors penetration into high volume automotive (personalized HMIs), machine tool (user-restricted HMI), buildings (access control) and consumer markets (PCs). The PYCSEL project will also entitle a transfer from LAB proof of concept to Technological validation in relevant environment. The final large area fingerprint sensor prototype will be able to acquire 4 fingers at a time, with an objective resolution of 500 dpi, and will allow the running of biometric acquisition campaigns as well as demonstration of safety control in automotive application by end-users.