Translating Smart Home Research into Practice

Abstract

Smart homes, namely, residential settings with technological infrastructure that supports passive monitoring of residents, are continuously growing domains with healthcare implications. This chapter explores the current status and lessons learned from smart home design and development worldwide to assess what designers and researchers perceive as facilitators and barriers to smart home adoption. A cross-sectional anonymous web survey assessing goals of projects, target audiences, team expertise, and barriers to translation to practice was conducted of smart home project or facility administrators and researchers identified through systematic search of scientific literature and online material. Response rate was 36.7 %. Fifteen usable surveys were included in the analysis. Findings indicate that several smart home projects exist with the aim of supporting communication and independent living. However, there are many challenges to their incorporation into the real world, including lack of funding support beyond the research phase, technology issues, and difficulty gaining widespread recognition as a valuable tool. Proper planning and design strategies are necessary to ensure the success and translation of such projects.