It took more than fifty years since the first time we have seen the future of smart homes, represented in the popular animated series “the Jetsons.” Rumba, of course, not really like Rosie, but in modern homes the advanced technology to create a sci-Fi picture, which then could only dream of. That, in fact, did. Today, largely thanks to the “Internet of things”, a variety of gadgets from thermostats to stoves — to become smarter, use sensors, data and cloud computing to install the perfect temperature or cooking pizza exactly how you like. Devices like Amazon Echo or Google Home, with their voice assistants have become the de facto centre of the new stand-alone systems.
Companies like Google believe that a smart home can be more than just stuffed with technology gadgets. The search giant since 2009, has filed about 40 patents on the topic of digital health. Many inventions claimed Google and its rivals Microsoft, Amazon and Apple rely on wearable technology and mobile apps that collect data to monitor the health and even to diagnose. But recently, Google with its patent has indicated a new trend: tracking your health parameters by the smart home.
The invention of Google is an optical sensor, which monitors the cardiovascular system. A device that can be embedded, for example, in the bathroom mirror, tracks the dynamics of blood flow in the body. For example, the discoloration of the skin may indicate a problem that will require additional observations using other sensors or wearable devices. The patent notes that monitoring at home will give a more complete picture of cardiovascular health than pictures taken during a visit to the doctor.
“The house transforms from a place you care, in a place that cares about you,” says Andrew Weinreich, host of the podcast Predicting Our Future. He believes that the smart home will have characters based on direct and indirect signals and the behavior of people.
“The house will read not only your clear and deliberate wishes and preferences, but biometric data transmitted some kind of wearable device that reacts to what you experience,” he explains. For example, if you fever, will change temperature and air flow. If your heart will beat much, the music will adapt to the rhythm.
“The fastest way to reduce the cost of health — to make people less sick. To make people less sick, need to identify signs of disease when treatment is relatively simple and inexpensive,” says Weinreich.
Startups smart homes
The latest generation of gadgets “Internet of things” focused on human health, living in a smart home, so easy to use that it can adopt now.
A company called Sleepace, for example, has developed a clever decision on the subject of sleep — DreamLife — which uses non-wearable sensors in the bed and the mattress to track sleep time, heart rate, respiration, body movements and sleep cycles. The application then analyzes the data and makes recommendations for better sleep. New York’s Eight also offers smart beds that monitor the order of ten factors, sleep and surroundings the bed to ensure better sleep for a person. It can also communicate with other smart devices to adjust temperature and lighting.
The company Awair of San Francisco has invented a smart home device that helps a person breathe by monitoring air quality. The device monitors chemical substances, dust, temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels, thus assessing the quality of the air. It gives recommendations for improving air quality and track changes over time. It even works with other smart home devices like thermostats, helping to improve air quality.
Although some of these devices are designed for General use, many also aimed to assist the elderly to remain independent. This includes the sensors on the plate, which automatically detects if the hob is left unattended, as well as a small pill dispenser which alerts the person if he has taken drugs.
Another trend in the same field — the use of robots as Pets or robot companions that can do a variety of things, from checking the memory of man, to reminders about medication.
“I think the robots come into our homes,” says Weihua Shen, associate Professor of the University of Oklahoma and Director of the Laboratory for advanced sensing, computation, and control. “Robots are getting smarter and smarter. They can communicate with people in their language, and we treat them better and better.”
Medical platform smart home
The team of Shana develops a cloud-based platform smart homes for health surveillance, which includes environment sensors, wearable electronics and assistants in the form of robots. How will such a system?
Smart garment with textile ECG electrodes and the special belt for breathing and microphone are just a few examples. Environment sensors include a network of infrared sensors and an array of temperature-sensitive sensors in the ceiling of the apartment. The robot serves as both a companion and a multifunction sensor.
Similar experiments conducted since the beginning of the 21st century. But no one has yet been able to bring all these elements together on a single platform.
“We have combined the sensor of the microphone sensors of the environment, for example, movement — in the ceiling,” says Shen. “We can collect data continuously and analyze them in the cloud with algorithms AI”.
The system may, for example, determine that a person is suffering from dehydration. The robot will tell him to drink more water. The platform also may determine that the person has fallen and needs help. Scientists are working to make the platform smart block sensitive to the problems of mental character, through analysis of vital signs, facial expressions and tone of voice.
“You can tell someone’s in a bad mood or depressed, and the robot can do something to distract him,” says Shen.
Of course, there is still a lot of problems. For example, the elderly hard of hearing and speak softly. This creates difficulties in working with robots.
Smart home not only automatiseret your life, but also help to monitor the health of
Ilya Hel