We’re getting older. Fast. The number of Americans over 65 is expected to double from roughly 50 million to nearly 100 million by 2060. Just where are we all going to live? Nursing homes and affordable assisted living facilities are in short supply. Besides, given the choice, more than eight out of 10 seniors say they want to stay in their own home.

Aging in place makes intuitive sense. We’ve spent many years and lots of money making our homes the right place for us to live. The challenge as we grow older is how to do so safely and comfortably. Will we need to rely on adult children or healthcare workers, or, as we need assistance and a bit of oversight, could our primary caretakers be our homes themselves?

A new category of caregiving known as “ambient assisted living” is emerging to allow just that, by providing smart tech solutions that enable seniors to live at home longer, while helping them stay connected to outside caregivers, healthcare, and society. A smart house with a whole-home monitoring/security system and some key connected devices can cost less than a single month in an assisted living facility. The question is, how does it work?

Ambient assisted living starts at the front door, with an alarm system that includes smoke and leak detectors. “Other technology isn’t so relevant if there’s a fire or flood in your home,” notes Laurie Orlov, founder of the research firm Aging in Place Technology Watch. Connected to motion and leak sensors, smoke alarms, and security cameras, a smart security system such as the Abode Iota, Nest Secure, or Ring Alarm can alert a homeowner, a call center, or a loved one if there’s an issue. A video doorbell and smart door lock also provide security and can be critical for those with impaired mobility. The Nest Video Doorbell, for example, learns people’s faces and can announce who’s at the door, while showing them on a smart TV. With a smart door lock, the homeowner can let a guest in without leaving the comfort of a living room chair.

Kitchen

Being able to prepare food safely is key to independent living.

The kitchen poses hazards to people of any age. But with nearly half of seniors reporting at least occasional memory lapses, appliances that shut themselves off after use can be lifesaving. A product called Sense can be retrofitted to a home’s electrical panel and will notify the homeowner if any device has been left on too long. Sense can also learn daily usage patterns and send alerts to a trusted caregiver if they change. Did the coffee maker not turn on this morning? That might be a cue to the caregiver to call Dad to see if he’s okay.

June is a smart countertop oven that recognizes food placed inside it and cooks it to the correct temperature—shutting off when done—making meal prep a breeze; it also connects to smartphones and Alexa for almost complete hands-free cooking—a particular boon for those with severe visual impairment. A new Alexa-powered microwave from AmazonBasics can also be controlled with voice.

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Living Room

Voice control empowers seniors across living spaces.

Virtual assistants controlled by voice, like Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant, Samsung’s Bixby, and Apple’s Siri, are key to ambient assisted living, providing an easy-to-use interface for seniors to communicate with both the home and the outside world. A smart speaker in the living room can perform a variety of useful tasks, such as turning on the TV, providing reminders about medication, or even calling for help in an emergency.

Some voice assistants can also offer engagement, which is crucial for those living alone; social isolation is associated with poor health and higher rates of mortality. Enter LifePod, the first “proactive voice” assistant on the market. Working with Amazon devices, LifePod can have Alexa ask questions without needing a prompt. “A caregiver can set up a routine remotely that wakes Alexa at, say, 8 a.m. to ask the person, ‘How did you sleep last night?’” explains LifePod CEO Stuart Patterson. “If the person says, ‘I really slept poorly. I don’t feel well,’ LifePod can say, ‘Oh, that’s too bad. I will send a text message to your daughter telling her you didn’t sleep well.’ We call it a virtual caregiver instead of an assistant, because the caregiver is setting it up and controlling it.”

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Bathroom

A high-risk area where tech can support safety.

Slippery and hard-surfaced, the bathroom is a major problem spot for falls, the leading cause of fatal injuries and trauma-related hospital visits for seniors. Wearable personal emergency response systems can bring help, but they are not without flaws: You need to remember to wear one, and if you fall and are unconscious, you won’t be able to press the call button. Walabot Home is a radar-style device that sits on the wall, constantly scanning for sudden motion. If a fall is detected, Walabot can alert a caregiver and open up two-way communication through the device.

At night, smart toilets equipped with motion-sensing lights can play a role in preventing falls from happening in the first place. With fixtures such as Kohler’s Numi and Toto’s Neorest having features like voice-activated flushing and automatic lids that are helpful for those with limited range of motion, the high-tech toilet seems less like a punchline and more like a good idea.

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Bedroom

New gadgets promise greater well-being, day and night.

Seniors complain of insomnia more than any other nighttime problem, and lack of good sleep can lead to all sorts of health issues. Fortunately, a range of new products can help.

An air quality monitor can maintain the optimal sleep environment by turning on or adjusting a fan, dehumidifier, or thermostat if it senses humidity or temperature changes. The Awair monitor will even generate a sleep report to help you better understand and adjust your sleep environment. Smart light bulbs in bedside lamps can be set to emit a warm light and gradually fade out at bedtime to help your body wind down.

Biometric sensors in the Sleep Number 360 Smart Bed track your sleep, capturing data on your heart rate, breathing, and tossing and turning to create a personalized report. In the future these sensors may be able to detect irregular breathing or heartbeat patterns, like a heart attack, and alert emergency services in real time. The goal is to ultimately make beds part of the arsenal of smart equipment that could help monitor recovery after medical procedures, so you can safely return to and stay in your home.

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Top illustration by Linn Fritz

Welcome to Your Forever Home: Smart Tech For Aging in Place