Shabnam FakhrHosseini Discusses the Smart Home Future at Samsung Digital Health Forum
by Adam Felts
AgeLab Research Scientist Shabnam FakhrHosseini gave a presentation on home health technology at Samsung Electronics’ quarterly SGR Digital Health Forum, which is organized around an annual theme of “care at home.” Her presentation included an introduction to the research domains of MIT AgeLab, the latest iteration of MIT AgeLab home taxonomy and levels of automation, the role of social robots in the context of senior care, and the exploration of several use cases and solutions involving home appliances or digital devices.
Dr. FakhrHosseini discussed the challenges and opportunities of longevity: rising numbers of older adults will mean a larger population of people in need of increased healthcare and assistance, which will (and already does) constitute a flourishing market for new products and services.
Smart home systems, for their potential to facilitate health, safety, convenience, and connection in the home, may become increasingly popular for some of the 90 percent of older adults who want to age in place. 51 percent of homeowners already have some form of smart home technology in their homes. Smart home systems today are what Dr. FakhrHosseini classifies as "level 3" homes in her taxonomy, capable of interfacing in complex ways with each other and with the home environment, as well as the human user.
Dr. FakhrHosseini discussed some guidelines for developing smart home systems. They should function locally without needing to connect to a cloud service. They should provide users with recommendations for action instead of simple notifications. They should be able to respond to voice commands, and to be able to understand more complex, “chainable” commands. And they should be able to support multiple profiles in order to function in a multi-person home.
Importantly, these technologies should be developed with an aim toward accomplishing more for their users than “simply surviving:” they can also support people higher-order needs and desires. They can be designed with the ends of being engaging, fun, and stimulating. Technology adoption models, including AgeLab Research Scientist Chaiwoo Lee’s, provide a holistic picture of what draws us to new products and services, ranging from their ability to solve problems in our lives, their cost, and the ways that they reflect our self-definition and aspirations.
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