PLANNING AHEAD

ASSISTED LIVING TECHNOLOGIES – PLAN AHEAD

KNX sensors are stand alone and can be called upon to perform a multitude of tasks as appropriate and trigger emergency responses

With a KNX platform, the technology you install for people now, during their heyday, can be specified with an eye to future adaptations for assisted living argues Paul Foulkes, KNX UK President.

After all, futureproof and flexible have always been bywords for KNX, and the world’s leading smart control communications protocol is ahead of the pack by a country mile when it comes to enabling smart systems to evolve with peoples requirements.

The concept of technology-enabled assisted living that goes far beyond telecare and pullcord alarms, is a familiar one now, and there are countless examples of projects where people have achieved the freedom to live more independently for longer.

Assisted living is no longer focussed on emergency response, but now looks to making day-to-day living easier and more enjoyable. Increasing cyber-security has allayed concerns about reliability and privacy, and technology has clearly won the trust of users and their families. Installing it is a growing opportunity for skilled installers who already have the core skills of integration and customisation.

There is a growing realisation that loss of ability through aging or illness is more often than not a process, not an overnight event, and provision for assisted living is not ‘all or nothing’. Ideally technical solutions will be adaptive, and a natural evolution of the smart control people already enjoy in the prime of life. That’s where smart integration comes in.

Just to remind you, in case you’ve not yet looked into how KNX will boost your business, KNX is an open communication protocol, a common language that guarantees that control devices talk to each other. Devices for all applications, from wall panels to behindthe-scenes actuators and servers, will work together seamlessly.

Controls from any of the hundreds of manufacturers that offer certified products, can be programmed with the user-friendly KNX software tool, ETS – and reprogrammed when you need to update or reconfigure the system (all new devices are guaranteed as backwards compatible – there is never redundancy). Replacing devices to add different functionality as homeowners’ needs change over the years is straightforward, and doesn’t call for intrusive, expensive rewiring, as KNX devices communicate via a common scalable bus or RF. KNX secure protocols allow for remote access and maintenance with confidence.

The bottom line is that a KNX bus-based installation for a family in the prime of life is also the platform that will serve them in later years. There is no need for compromise on the design or functionality of their current solution, but there is the assurance that individual, evolving needs can be catered for with the minimum of fuss and bother. A KNX-controlled home really is a forever home.

For those with a physical disability, general KNX-controlled lighting, heating, blinds and video entry often form the basis of their installation, but there will also be the need for, say, window and door openers, and improved front-end controls for smart phones or voice activation. The final set up and programming is where more functionality and enhancements can be implemented.

It’s not just about emergency response, but also enabling everyday living. Security and door entry control can be fully integrated

Assistive living is not only for the elderly, but for anyone who wants to live independently yet needs some extra help in the home. Everyone’s needs will be different and off-the-shelf solutions, usually based around monitoring and motion sensing, will never work or everyone. For instance, while lighting scenes, heating levels and alarms may be completely automated for one person, a younger person with purely physical disabilities is perfectly able to manage the pre-set controls themself, just as an ablebodied householder would.

Voice activation can play a big role in controlling assistive technology, as do smart phones and tablets. Good visualisation enables intuitive, easy control to keep people in control of their own environment with touch displays like Jung’s Smart Panel 8 which need no additional server and can work centrally on the wall or on a tablet or smartphone in the local network. They are almost infinitely adaptable and can easily be reconfigured if and when the need for greater assistance emerges.

Assistive technology is not necessarily much different from the mainstream, but of course it must be reliable, easy to use and tailored to a person’s with special needs. Indeed, with KNX, assistance can be a natural evolution of an existing system you had the foresight to install years before.

“KNX provides all the flexibility but getting the set up and balance right is where integrator skill comes in to play,” says Andy Ellis of Household Automation, an integrator with extensive experience in assisted living technology in domestic and commercial healthcare environments. Whenever possible, he works closely with occupational therapists to understand how best to help people manage tasks that they had previously found difficult or impossible.

Reinforcing the ideas that assisted living is an extension of the work that skilled KNX integrators are well-equipped for, Graeme Harrold of 3-e Smart Control comments, “For assisted living, existing KNX infrastructure can be adapted without intrusive work through software tweaks and the integration of additional products both wired and via RF. Equally, assisted living functionality can be easily removed when there is no longer a need for enhanced monitoring/usability features, such as after a period of rehabilitation.”

Unlike traditionally wired systems, KNX sensors are inherently stand alone and can therefore be called upon to perform a multitude of tasks from lighting, security and heating and even cascading commands to other areas based on trigger patterns. We are creatures of habit, and these habits can easily be tracked to provide notifications that deviate from the expected normal. For example, a shower running for longer than usual could indicate a fall. Even the simplest of installations can provide data that aids remote monitoring of a person’s wellbeing.

Good visualisation is a huge enabler that can be customised to match individual needs and reconfigured as necessary