Smart & Wired: Safe At Home
March 1, 2004
Last year Susan McDonough’s mother underwent heart surgery and suffered a stroke
and seizure. Fiercely independent, the 74-year-old Albany, N.Y., resident would
not consider moving from her home. But her children were worried about her
living alone. So in April, McDonough enrolled her mother in a pilot program
conducted by General Electric for its new product, Home Assurance.
Home
Assurance utilizes security sensors that are placed strategically around a house
to electronically report routine movements. Activities such as opening and
closing doors, walking through the house and opening the refrigerator door are
all captured as “normal” behavior. Any irregular behavior is immediately
identified and reported to remote caregivers, who can also log onto a secure web
site at any time to monitor the activities of their loved ones.
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Components of Shell’s HomeGenie system allow homeowners to control light systems and appliances via the Internet. (Click images to enlarge)
McDonough has the system programmed to notify her by phone or e-mail if there is no activity in her mother’s bedroom between 6 am and 9 am. She is able to check on her mother without being intrusive, and her mother feels secure knowing that someone will be notified if there is an emergency.
GE has been testing Home Assurance since last spring and expects to have the product on the market sometime this year, says Paul Cuddihy, project leader at GE’s Global Research Center. Depending on the number of sensors and features selected by the user, the initial fee for the equipment is expected to be between $250 and $500. Monitoring fees will run $35 to $45 per month.
Home Assurance is just one example of a new generation of products on the horizon that will make the lives of elderly Americans—and their caretakers—better. “The number of people living longer than 65 is increasing, but the caregiver population is not growing nearly as fast,” says Sumi Helal, a professor of computer and information science and engineering at the University of Florida. Helal recently completed a 500-square-foot “smart house” at the school that melds the latest computer and sensor technology to provide assistance to people as they age.
