TTA Archives 2005-2012

Research ‘smart homes’ have been called ‘expensive places where eHealth tech goes to die’ but this may break the mold in intention and results.  Over the past two years, Alcatel-Lucent, in conjunction with Bell Labs Antwerp, have been developing a concept called Casensa–a contraction of the Spanish ‘a casa sensible’, or ‘sensitive home’.  What is impressive here is the sensitivity to the everyday problems of people with mild cognitive disorders and dementias, and how the engineers created simple to use, intutive solutions.  Casensa uses routines and objects defined by the resident in the home not only to help sustain cognition and independence, but also reduce burdens on caregivers.  ‘Action cards’ with sensors help sustain even the simplest of routines and are controlled by the user as needed.  A few Casensa homes went on line last November.  Worth a careful read.  M2M Magazine