Exemplars of operational AAL deployment in the healthspace are relatively few but increasing. This short reflective piece considers the reasons why, notes underpinning drivers for the future, outlines the increasing research-based activity and sets the context for the following papers that consider the current field from different perspectives across the globe. Firstly research-based (O'Kane, O'Donoghue, Gallagher, Aftab, Caseyand Courtney), then Zayas-Caban and colleague propose a methodology for design and implementation, followed by a description of operational piloting (MacGinnis). The next two papers look at progress – in Taiwan (Tsai-Ya and Jenn-Hwan) from the historic development forwards, and comparatively (Shao-Huai and Jui-Chen) in Japan describing a novel incentivisation model. Both of these papers make observations that could be applied globally, as do all the contributors in this section. Wild and Boise then conclude the section by focusing on attitudes to and uses of AAL for a particular target group of potential recipients of assistive technology, Older Persons. Evaluated AAL practical applications are emerging in the health space but the pace of roll-out could be speeded up if frequently observed constraints and some practical lessons learnt from deployment, which have been brought into focus by these papers, were addressed more effectively. There are however some additional refreshing and emerging European and global eHealth initiatives that look set to also facilitate progress.