Researchers at the technical university in Braunschweig in Germany are testing the idea of equipping the homes of elderly people with a network of sensors that will help them stay in their homes longer. The research project includes a model of a home with a functioning network of sensors.
The goal is to use electronics to help elderly and sick people remain independent longer and inside their own four walls. "Our project is unique in Germany because not only scientists are working on it, but it also involves important institutions needed for the practical transformation to the new technology. These include housing industry officials, doctors, social services and builders," said Professor Reinhold Haux.
Haux is leader of the Peter L. Reichertz Institute for medical computer science, which is supported by the technical university of Braunschweig and the medical school in Hanover.
Next year the Nibelungen construction company in Braunschweig wants to offer for rent the first electronic homes.
The model home set up at the technical university has two bedrooms, a kitchen and bathroom and is completely furnished. It is considered an experimental workshop with sensors everywhere, motion detectors and extra switches. There are electronics integrated into doors, windows, appliances, furniture and lamps. "Everything is networked," said project leader Maik Plischke.
Applications already tested include one that automatically turns on the light when the occupant of the home gets up in the night to use the toilet. The stove and lights are turned off when the occupant leaves the home.
Windows and doors can be opened and closed from a chair using a remote control. Kitchen shelves and bookshelves elsewhere in the home are moveable and can be lowered to within reach. Lights and the television turn on automatically if there is a suspected break-in.
Motion detectors worn on the occupants clothes or on a belt are especially important because they quickly register a fall and send a signal that places an emergency call to a contact person in the family, to a social services centre or the house doctor.
"Some of these systems improve the comfort within the home and could be interesting for other occupants," said Plischke. However, the model home offers even more. The data collected by the sensors can be fed into a computer and determine the occupant's daily routine and behavioural patterns. When these change, it could be an indication of an illness or that something has happened.
Then the system can react either by giving the occupant advice such as "Go to the doctor" or by notifying the doctor. In addition doctors in the future will be able to connect to the system over the internet and find out the patient's state of health.
"We must adjust to the demographic change and offer more homes tailored to the elderly with supplemental services," said Ruediger Warnke, chief executive of Nibelungen construction, the largest housing association in the city. Half of the population of Braunschweig will be 65 years or older by 2030.
People participating in the project agree that the acceptance of these new homes depends not only on how the personal data of the occupant will be protected, but also on how affordable the technology will be.
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