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Smart home technology is first and foremost about accessibility. Being able to control your home through your phone or voice means more people can live independently. The average age of Americans is at an all-time high, and the aging population is expected to explode over the next 25 years. Smart home technology helps seniors stay at home longer.
3 challenges to using smart home technology to age at home
There are two obstacles that need to be overcome for smart technology to truly become part of the solution. The first is power. Smart systems cannot operate without power (although most, if not all, require the Internet, as they can utilize Bluetooth and local networks). If you built your entire home to rely on smart technology and then the power goes out, your dependents will likely be left in an even worse spot during the power outage than they would have been without your assistant. Backup power solutions can also be part of the solution, with companies like Jackery, EcoFlow, and Solix developing powerful whole-home battery backup systems and subpanels that can be an important part of your smart home.
The second obstacle is the potential for imperfection and error in individual smart home products. When you ask a Floorbot to vacuum, it usually does the job without a problem. But eventually things go wrong, and now they're a trip hazard in your home. It weighs over 10 pounds and can be difficult to lift for people with limited physical abilities. This problem applies to just about every product I can think of, but it's even worse when that product is a hub itself. I rely on Alexa and Google every day, and at least 15% of my requests end up in dead ends. Either the product doesn't respond, the assistant claims it can't perform the action, or it just mishears me. No matter how far smart home technology has come, we are still in its infancy.
The final challenge is the eternal one: cost. Whether renovating a home or considering smart technology for the cost of new construction, it means adding to the financial burden on families, making smart technology a privilege in an increasingly fiscally fragmented economy. Masu.
Still, if money is available, smart technology can extend the amount of time people can stay in their homes, even if only piecemeal.
Get the most out of your voice assistant
The three major ecosystems – Homekit, Alexa, and Google – all have voice assistants, and Samsung is catching up as well. Choose one, leverage its voice assistant and ecosystem, and just ask for basically anything in your home, from lighting to security systems to air conditioning and heating to cleaning with robot vacuums and washer/dryers. You will be able to control it. Your assistant asks for help. This can be extended to mowing the lawn, opening and closing curtains, opening and closing doors, windows, garage doors, and even remotely starting your car. A self-driving car is a smart extension of his home. If you want to help your elderly parents live independently, you might consider these products.
First, choose your ecosystem from the four mentioned above (Google, Apple, Amazon, Samsung). Extend your signal via Wi-Fi mesh as needed to ensure a good signal throughout your home. Next, install voice assistant speakers throughout your home. This is probably the cheapest part of the list, as many of them are cheap. A voice assistant should always be within hearing distance of your loved ones (or barely tolerated ones) and should ideally be mounted on the ceiling or wall. Google Assistant won't call 911 (though you can set up a personal security check to notify trusted contacts). We also do not report through related Nest products. Siri tries using the associated iPhone, while Alexa only tries through add-on services.
Start with major home systems such as utilities
You have to choose whether to add “smartness” to the starting point or to the ending point. This means that light switches and light bulbs themselves can be made smart. You can make your humidifier smart by adding smart outlets and plugs, or you can simply buy a smart humidifier. Consider that there are now several air conditioner and heating products with smart features, and even smart retrofits for air conditioners and heaters. To keep essentials out of the way, it makes sense to add smart home security through window and door sensors and smart door locks. Doors that can be unlocked by voice or keypad are less physically demanding than operating a key, and you don't have to worry about losing or forgetting them. Video doorbells increase your safety by allowing you to respond to the person at your door without having to physically answer them.
From there, you need to identify the routines that are important to seniors and the products that make them easier to maintain. This may include a smart coffee maker or a smart bird feeder. Smart oven or microwave. Or even a smart indoor garden.
Leverage cameras, sensors, and automation to assist and monitor remotely
An aspect I hadn't considered before was how these products could help people support elderly family members. For example, using in-car cameras to help communicate with and monitor relatives. Most indoor cameras we have reviewed include two-way communication. The pan-and-tilt model allows you to remotely access a full view of any room (assuming privacy issues between you and your relatives have been resolved). We also recommend adding a presence sensor that can be configured to identify if someone has fallen. Sensors can be used to understand the environment and can be used to trigger automation.
Remember, automation means you can remotely request notifications of a situation, rather than just using it to set actions in your home. Through these notifications, you can monitor the situation remotely. The phone is essentially a personal tag that can be used for location tracking and identification in automation. Use automation to notify you if your loved one isn't home by 11pm, or in the kitchen by 10am, and more.
Keeping your health and medical needs on track
The recent boom in smart health products means people can leverage technology to take care of themselves and monitor it remotely. There's also a smart automatic pill dispenser, and Withings has developed an entire ecosystem of connected health products, from sleep monitors to scales. Add a smartwatch to create an alarm system for your family's health and safety.