RESNA'94:

The ability to perform everyday tasks, in the home, is a major need expressed by a large number of elderly and disabled people. The independent living that this leads to is aspired to by many. Although environmental control systems have traditionally been used to help them meet this need, several advantages can be identified if general home systems technology, with suitable user interfaces, is employed instead. This paper identifies the major issues in this approach, presents a brief overview of the state of this technology, discusses the requirements in terms of R&D methodology and outlines future directions in this area.