Page 247 - Handbook of Electronic Assistive Technology

236 HANDBOOK OF ELECTRONIC ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

Table 8-1 Range of User Groups

Range of user groups that smart home technologies have been applied to within the United Kingdom
Older people
Dementia
Physical disability
Acquired brain injury
Learning disability
Challenging behaviour
Sensory impairment

Table 8-2 Range of Applications

Range of applications of smart home technologies within the United Kingdom
Automation
Safety monitoring
Support of lifestyle
Lifestyle monitoring
Carer support

Table 8-3 Range of Technologies
Range of smart home technologies used within the United Kingdom (No. of systems in parentheses)
KNX (22)
LonWorks (6)
PC with off-the-shelf data capture card and sensors (3)
Proprietary controller with a combination of custom and off-the-shelf sensors (6)

Tables 8.1–8.3 summarise the activity associated with the previously described projects
(Linskell, 2011).
The authors have described where, how and why various smart home technologies
have been utilised to support independent living. Success is dependent on making a com-
mitment to a particular approach and allowing time for the expertise and confidence of all
stakeholders to develop.
The uses to which smart home technology can be applied to support independent liv-
ing will now be discussed. There have been attempts to categorise the functional aspects
of smart home systems (Bejarano et al., 2016), but none have proved compelling or gained
traction. This discussion will refer to the function categories presented in Table 8.2, which
are based on the authors’ own investigations, to highlight some of the benefits and issues
associated with the use of such technologies.

Automation

Automation is probably the most fully explored and readily perceived application area
for using smart house technology to facilitate independence and has tended to be the