The brave new world of digital homes for independent living

This paper presents early findings into an evaluation of a ‘smart home’ pilot project. The project provides disabled people living in a rural area with a range of impairments and from different age groups, with smart, sustainably produced, co-designed, future-proofed homes, built to adapt as they age and their impairments change. The idea is that the in-built technology will monitor residents and, with the help of Artificial Intelligence, use the data gathered to help predict events like falls and changes in health. The aims are to reduce hospital admissions, maintain the ability for residents to live in their own homes for longer and promote community support, thus increasing the residents’ privacy, independence and social connections. It is hoped that this will provide a model for lifetime homes built along the principles of universal design.

We report on the emergent outcomes from the project and explore some of the ethical and political issues arising from the use of technologies such as digital surveillance aimed at promoting independent living.