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A new smart home concept designed to watch over residents’ health like an in-house doctor is aimed mainly at elderly residents. If it detects unusually strong shaking or vibration in any part of the house, it will automatically alert the household. It’s also said to run basic health checks on each resident on a regular basis.
Tech companies have already been building smart home products like smart refrigerators, washing machines, light bulbs, and door locks, all controllable by voice command or through smartphones and smart speakers. What makes this smart home different is that it’s specifically built to look after residents’ health.
The concept is being developed by Colistra, a professor at the Kansas School of Architecture, along with his students. The smart home is fitted with sensors that measure biometric data. If an elderly resident falls, it can alert the rest of the household. It can also track things like walking gait, sleep patterns, and how often someone urinates.
A smart mirror built into the design can check for cancer-causing lumps, new moles, and signs of stroke. The smart bathroom can also calculate the body’s water content and the amount of waste excreted. According to the professor, measuring the body’s hydration level is an important indicator for heart health. He and his team have secured $51,000 in funding to build the smart home and plan to construct it after the current school year ends.
According to the project’s creator, the smart home represents real progress in how we care for elderly residents’ health, and could end up functioning much like a personal doctor for whoever lives there.