Research

After thinking about the definition of smart homes and smart buildings, see this blog entry, I started to think about other terms that are likely to be used in this field. So, how about assisted living?
"The Assisted Living Federation of America defines assisted living as a long-term care option that combines housing, support services and health care, as needed. Assisted living is designed for individuals who require assistance with everyday activities such as meals, medication management or assistance, bathing, dressing and transportation". (Definition from http://www.alfa.org/alfa/Assisted_Living_Information.asp ) It appears that this is a sort of generally accepted definition so this will do for now.

The Merriam Webster website defines assisted living as "a system of housing and limited care that is designed for senior citizens who need some assistance with day-to-day activities but are not sufficiently incapacitated to require care in a nursing home and that usually includes private quarters, meals, personal assistance, housekeeping aid, monitoring of medications, and nurses' visits". Obviously this is not the right definition for me as I am not working with the elderly so I need to steer clear of definitions that go off in that particular direction; this said however, I will be looking at systems that are used for elderly to gain inspiration for what could be useful for younger people.

Another thing that I have found is that assisted living can mean a single dwelling or indeed a collection of dwellings in one location that can be supervised by both medical and non-medical staff to ensure that the individuals who live there can be cared for in their own homes rather than in care homes. Again I am not looking at a system that can be used in multiple dwellings, but it may be that the final system could easily be converted for this purpose.

I need to decide what various terms mean in respect to this project. For example a smart home is defined as "a home equipped with lighting, heating, and electronic devices that can be controlled remotely by phone or computer." if you use the phrase "Define smart home" in Google. Is this right? Yes, in some contexts this is right; however this is not really right for my thesis. "A dwelling incorporating a communications network that connects the key electrical appliances and services, and allows them to be remotely controlled, monitored or accessed." is closer as it does not state which devices are accessible as the first one does but states that the "key electrical appliances" are available. This is the definition in a fact sheet on the housingcare.org website entitled "Smart Home - A Definition". This is a document that was put together by the Department of Trade & Industry in the UK.

PC Magazine say that it is a "A home that is highly automated. It is entirely networked not only for computers, A/V entertainment and security, but also for heating, air-conditioning and lighting control. A smart house should have Ethernet outlets in every room. Although Wi-Fi is ubiquitous, and there are many appliances that are Wi-Fi only; connecting computers together via Ethernet is faster and more secure.". This is understandable as this is a computer magazine therefore it is going to veer towards the technological side. But again this is not really what I am aiming for.

Interestingly, a smart building is defined as "At the most fundamental level, smart buildings deliver useful building services that make occupants productive (e.g. illumination, thermal comfort, air quality, physical security, sanitation, and many more) at the lowest cost and environmental impact over the building lifecycle." by the Institute for Building Efficiency on their web site. Closer to what I want. So perhaps I need to be looking at smart buildings rather than smart homes? Are smart homes going to be thought of as a rich man's gadget playground? I must admit that this is how I have perceived them for a long time. I do not want something that can open the curtains or blinds in the morning to welcome the inhabitant to the bright / rainy / snowy / foggy new day. Unless it serves a purpose. I think that the "Unless it serves a purpose" is going to be extremely important and will be a useful yardstick. Or perhaps metrestick as we are supposed to be metric now. Funnily enough, yardstick is acceptable to the dictionary but there is no such thing as metrestick! There's my answer then

So, how do I see a smart home / building in this context? How about "A home that has been designed to assist the users, by means of appropriate technology, to live safer and more enjoyable lives. Key appliances can be monitored, accessed and remotely controlled to ensure that the users have an improved quality of life."

I am not sure about the last bit of that, I need to work on it but it seems about right for now.

OK, you are probably wondering why this is called MALCOLM and, no, I am not yelling the name out for some perverse reason. MALCOLM stands for:
Mapping Assisted Living Capability Over La Manche which I am sure you know that La Manche is the name the French give to what we in the UK call The English Channel.

So, what is it all about then and why am I writing about it? Well, the important bit is the "assisted living" bit. I am going to an event in October that is talking about a project, called MALCOLM that, and I quote from the website, "will map the assisted living capabilities* in the coastal regions either side of the Channel. The mapping will be conducted using a standardised methodology so that direct comparisons can be made between the regions.

*For the purpose of this project, we define Assisted Living as the development and use of sensor and information and communication technologies (ICT) to facilitate the remote delivery of care and support to people to improve their quality of life and allow them to live as independently as possible in the lowest intensity care setting, consistent with their needs and wishes."

As the project is looking at assisted living systems I think that I can make some very useful connections, hence the travel along the south coast of England to Maidstone in Kent to attend. The website for information is to be found here

The event is taking place on the 16th October, I will put some more info up here as I find it and will, hopefully, remember to write up the day once I have been.