IOT for concerned families

As a confirmed IOT early adopter, I've often been asked what IOT is and why it's important to everyday folk. I'm only just beginning to work it out.

A year ago I was really struggling to give non-telco people a good reason to connect up their houses, cars and family. The naysayers were divided into a few groups.

1. The "didn't need it before, don't need it now" group
2. The "my phone is all I need" group
3. The "it's not worth the money" group

Group 2 have a point, because almost everyone has a smartphone which allows for a human-centric network of assurance and security. But that's a very manual method.

Group 3 certainly have a point, as not many people have yet to turn a profit from buying smart home heating e.g. Nest, or solar panels for that matter. The returns tend to kick in after 8-10 years.

Group 1 are the hardest to convince. No one really needs the new fangled IOT. If we did need it desperately then it would have taken off a long time ago. For 9 out of 10 people on the planet, the IOT is solving distinctly 1st world problems.

This year my viewpoint changed. With aging parents becoming increasingly vulnerable and in need of care, the IOT offers a valuable data stream for a busy family.

A UK survey of elder-care revealed that the cost of care has risen to at least £590 per week. The government only contributes towards this if your savings are less than £27,000. So many families will be looking at steep care costs from the parental age of 65 onwards. This is happening in parallel with sky-rocketing living costs thanks to Brexit and more and more children living at home until their 30s.

Putting off residential care by providing better awareness of elder well-being to allow aging-at-home is becoming mission critical for the middle-aged generation.

The IOT is now ready to support families with a variety of non-intrusive, security and safety services, overseen by family members.

Motion detectors can track normal movements of the elderly around their home, alerting carers for anomalies. If there is less movement than normal, or movement is only shown in one or two rooms, then an alert can be shown. And these are intelligent alerts that use machine learning to understand normal behaviours, normal deviations, and significant changes in activity. They can also track deterioration over time. If an elderly Parkinson's sufferer is taking longer and longer to prepare food, or wash, then this can be evident from the data. Longer term trends like this can be very difficult to identify. With this new data, carers can make informed decisions and sensitively raise issues with the elderly.

Panic alarms have been provided to the elderly for many years, but only recently have these devices been cost effective and miniature enough to be used everyday, inside and outside the home. Now the panic button can be voice enabled, so that immediate remote triage can be achieved, reducing false alarms, and delivering the right carer visit or emergency service. This significantly reduces the cost of providing the service, and also speeds up the correct resonse action.

The ability to install easily, with remote configuration and support, to easily add devices, and to enable carers to monitor the system remotely, means less wasted time. This translates into more quality visit time for family members, and more visibility of care needs as time ticks on.

For that alone I'm grateful for the IOT, and will take advantage of the benefits to carers that it brings, as our family moves into the next phase of life.