Smart Houses Project Using Currently Available Technology Part 3: Problems and Solutions

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Smart Houses Project Using Currently Available
TechnologyPart 3 Problems and Solutions
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Sources of Problems

• Person
• Computer
• X-10 products
• House

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Problems - A Person

• Problem
• 1. Too many downloaded programs nonfunctioning
  computer.
• 2. Not updating/did not download patches
  nonfunctioning computer.

• Solution
• Clean any unused programs or add additional
  memory to
• accommodate Active Home program.
• Update virus protection/
• Microsoft updates regularly.

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Problems - A Person

• Problem
• 3. Opened too many files.

• Solution
• Reduce number of programs running in
  background.

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Problems- A Computer

• Problem
• 1. Hidden applications were running leading to
  less resource.
• 2. Virus affected the PC.
• 3. Bad hardware component.

• Solution
• Reduce program
• running at startup.
• Run anti-virus software.
• Replace the component.

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Problems- A Computer

• Problem
• 4. PC had trouble connecting to the Internet.
• 5. PC cannot open applications such as Outlook.
• 6. Computer locked up when using ActiveHome.

• Solution
• Change user account status.
• Update the software and restart the PC.
• Restart the computer, upgrade the OS if necessary.

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Problems X-10 Products

• Problem
• 1. ActiveHome software needed downloading.
• 2. Timer for lighting off.

• Solution
• Active home updates from X-10 website.
• Reset light timers.

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Problems X-10 Products

• Problem
• 3. Time/date were incorrect.
• 4. Motion detector was too sensitive and did not
  work with fluorescent lights.

• Solution
• Interface active home
• and computer clock.
• Put wide tape on side of
• motion detector or
• move to another wall.
• Use different light.

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Problems X-10 Products

• Problem
• 5. Remote control was not working.
• 6. Chime did not work.

• Solution
• Change batteries and
• reset. Instead of a 5-in-1 remote, a key chain
  remote was used.
• Same as above. If still
• doesnt work, replace
• chime.

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Problems X-10 Products

• Problem
• 7. A door jam was offset.
• 8. Door sensor was affected by temperature and
  moisture change.

• Solution
• Use a lightweight
• shim to fit properly.
• (For apartment, permanent fixture was not used)
• Permanently install
• sensors.

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Problems X-10 Products

• Problem
• 9. Wiring and tape coming loose affected by the
  environment.
• 10. Radio interference was found when the light
  timer is on.
• 11. Door chime went off in case of power outage.

• Solution
• Use indoor/outdoor tape or
• permanently install Sensors.
• Change the house code
• may be getting signal
• from other X-10 sources
• or in/outside house
• interference.
• Reset chimes.

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Problems X-10 Products

• Problem
• 12. Light was turned
• off manually and
• needs to be reset.
• 13. Light came on at
• time not set
• interference.

• Solution
• Manually turn on light and then turn off by the
  X-10 program in order to turn on again at the
  scheduled time.
• Change the house code - may be getting signal
  from other X-10 sources or in/out side of house
  interference.

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Problems A House

• Problem
• 1. Old houses or apartments have old phone lines
  and old electricity lines that interfere with the
  use of a computer.

• Solution
• Noise on the power line. Plug the appliance
  into a noise filter such as Filtering.
• A simple plug-in phase called SignaLink was a
  solution.

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4. Impact of a smart house among frail elders
Results of one- year intervention

• Computer and Smart House systems were provided.
  Computer use is monitored by Boss Everyware.
• Computer use includes Internet, e-mail,
  ActiveHome, word processing, games, modem access,
  computer browsing and miscellaneous programs.

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Boss Everyware

• Collects information such as application file
  name, active window and duration and saves them
  to a dbase III log file.
• Has the ability to filter data and export them to
  other programs such as Microsoft Excel and text
  editors.

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Boss Everyware and Privacy

• Boss Everyware has a key logger but this option
  is always turned off.
• This is in accordance to HIPAA and to maintain
  security.

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Boss Everyware Procedure

• The software is installed in every consumers
  computer.
• Every 6 months, their log files are copied and
  transferred to the investigators computer.
• Some of the data is filtered in dbase and then
  converted to XLS to sort.
• Time spent in a particular category of
  application is reported for each consumer.

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Example of a Report
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Results of one- year intervention

• Initial Data
• Treatment 46
• Control 67

• One-year Follow-up
• Treatment 39 (-15)
• Control 50 (-25)

Reasons of attrition 8 died ( 2T, 6C) 5 moved
out of town ( 3T, 2 C) 5 nursing home placement
(1T, 4C) 3 disconnected phones (1T. 2C) 3 quit
(1T, 2C)
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Satisfaction toward life with a computer among
smart house users

• Very Satisfied 52.8
• Somewhat Satisfied 33.3
• Neither 5.6
• Somewhat Dissatisfied 8.3
• Very Dissatisfied 0
• One-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test
• Z 3.167, p .001

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Usefulnessof Smart House

• Usefulness
• Very Useful 82.9
• Somewhat Useful 28.6
• Not So Useful 8.6
• Not Useful At All 8.6

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Operation of Smart House

• Ease or Difficulty
• Very Easy 37.8
• Somewhat Easy 29.8
• Somewhat Difficult 10.8
• Very Difficult 5.4
• Doesnt Apply 16.2
• (dont operate SH via computer)

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Subjective Outcomeof Smart House

• Do you recommend Smart House for any age group?
• Yes (n28) 77.8 No (n8) 22.2
• for Elderly 32.1
• for Young ones 0
• for Any one 52.8

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Reasons for Recommendation(N30)

• Safety and Security (53.6)
• Utilitarian Value (32.1)
• Lights turning on/off by itself is useful
• for persons who use assistive devices
• Overall Satisfaction ( 14.3)

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Reasons for Not Recommending(N8)

• System is erratic (62.5)
• The system sometimes works but sometimes doesn't
  work.
• Bad experience (25.0)
• Difficulty in operation (12.5)

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Subjective Outcomeof Smart House

• Has using a computer including Smart House
  changed the following?
• Mental health 70.6
• Socializing 64.0
• Security 56.0
• Health 40.5
• Wellness 40.5

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Difference in Attitude

• Attitude toward life with computer use
• A computer is for older adults.
• Computer use would be fun.
• F6.317 p.003
• C (Non users) 50.8 (13.6) least positive
• T (Light users) 57.8 (4.9) very positive
• (Heavy users) 59.7 (4.5) most positive
• Non users are different from two levels of
  users.
• Less than 10 hours/week

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Difference in Attitude

• Perceived physical /psychosocial health
• I would manage my health easier via computer
  use.
• Computer use would increase my independence as
  a person.
• F7.244 p.002
• C (Non users) 51.1 (14.2) Least positive
• T (Light users) 54.8 (7.5) In the middle
• (Heavy users) 63.1 (6.8) Most positive
• Non users are different from high users.

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Difference in Attitude

• Attitude toward future computer-based technology
• Computer-based technologies would increase my
  independence so that I do not always need help
  from someone.
• In the future, computer-based technology will
  not threaten older adults privacy.
• F5.793 p.005
• C (Non users) 42.9 (10.1)
• T (Light users) 44.4 (4.2)
• (Heavy users) 50.1 (6.1)
• Non users are different from two levels of users.

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I like Smart House and only wish this place was
large so that I could take more advantage of it.