Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) summarizes various connected digital networked assisting technologies with the aim to support elderly and chronically ill people and to improve their quality of life. This paper defines the term AAL and shows different fields of application for AAL technologies. It illustrates the role of AAL against the background of the societal and demographic changes, of the expected growth of older people in need of care, and of the ongoing trend of singularisation of elderly. We describe medical application areas with new opportunities for the use of AAL technologies. The article highlights further the importance of the technical acceptance of these technologies by the end users, which we deem to be the most critical factor for the diffusion and use of AAL technologies in the forthcoming years.