DEPARTMENTS
Connected Home
Peeping
Mom
Smart Home Systems and Spy
Cams Are Helping the Elderly
Keep Their Independence
By Patricia Miller
“Getting old sucks,” my mother muttered as
we wheeled her up the driveway after her hipreplacement
surgery. Aging can be frustrating.
Changes in mobility, temporary disabilities, and
the threat of a fall are sometimes all it takes to
shift from independence to assisted living.
As smart home technology catches up to the
needs of older consumers, more people are
choosing to “age in place.” Voice activation,
sensor-based monitoring, and smartphone
control systems are making it easier for elderly
consumers to incorporate life-saving technology
into their homes.
The creators of the abode iota Smart Home
Security System saw an opportunity and
developed an approachable, easy-to-install
monitoring system to help older clients stay in
their homes. CEO of abode Chris Carney even
installed the iota in his father’s condo.
Carney explained why he wanted his dad
to try the iota: “He’s not the most
technologically advanced person, but he uses
the system for home security. And really, I got
him the system so myself and my brothers
would have peace of mind.”
14 Residential Tech Today | July/August 2019
More than home security, Carney wanted to
be able to check on his father’s safety. “My
father doesn’t even know it’s there most of the
time,” he said, “unless we say something to him
on the camera to trigger him to know that
we’re there on the other end. He’s not to the
point where he needs a system to keep track
of him, but if we hadn’t heard from him in a
couple of days, and we called and he didn’t
answer, we could look in on the camera and
see if he was okay.”
Abode’s system allows two-way
communication between the camera and the
smartphone control. Carney can look into the
room, see his father, speak into his smartphone,
and his father will hear it and respond by
speaking aloud. Control4 offers a similar
capability with its Intercom Anywhere feature.
These tools allow for rapid communication,
though they raise some privacy concerns. Just
because our parents are aging doesn’t mean they
lose their right to privacy.
Carney addressed this concern with his father
prior to installing the system. “You can turn on
and off the streaming camera privacy. Our father
has control of that functionality, as do we. We
The creators of the abode iota
Smart Home Security System
saw an opportunity and
developed an approachable,
easy-to-install monitoring
system to help older clients
stay in their homes.
made an agreement with him that we weren’t
going to go looking at him all the time, just if we
hadn’t been able to reach him for a few days,”
Carney explained.
Smart home systems like the iota allow for lots
of customization. For someone with dementia,
this could enable a loved one to install pressure
sensors or open and close sensors which would
signal when a door has been closed or a
medicine cabinet opened.
“You could add door locks, you could add
light switches, thermostats, or garage door
openers,” Carney noted. “You could have a
loved one’s garage door automatically open
when they drive home.”
Home automation and security systems are
helping the elderly population to stay in their
homes longer and live a better quality of life.
They’re also giving adult children the
opportunity to be more engaged with their
parent’s health and safety. Even though these
technologies may not bring us together
physically, they allow us to be present
emotionally when our loved ones need
it most. x