Over decades the number of elderly population has increased dramatically. This affects human in various aspects especially in healthcare where admission number and healthcare cost will significantly rise. In twenty first century where sensor and network technologies have been advanced, new model of care is possible. Smart home is defined as a place that equipped with technologies that allow people to maintain living independently while in charge of their own healthcare and its cost. It will allow people to age in home, enhance people way of living i.e. safety, security, convenience, etc. In this paper the topics related with smart home technologies including several smart home projects, different type of networks that are used in smart home, smart home appliances and sensor technologies for smart home have been reviewed.
Smart home technologies show great benefits in elderly care and to successfully adopt of these technologies perception, needs and concerns must be thoroughly assessed and understood. A survey has been carried out at major local hospitals, nursing homes, and general population to explore the perception of six selected technologies such as cooking hob and oven safety control, sleeping pattern monitoring, emergency alarm, automatic lighting system, video monitoring system and activity monitoring system to assist elderly people. The result showed positive feedback toward these technologies with emergency alarm and automatic lighting system were the most popular. The adoption willingness of these technologies was still indecisive. Regarding the use of smart home technologies, factors such as lack of human responders, user friendliness of the device and the need of learning new technology were most concerned.
Smart home technologies seem to be favour in elderly care. Although now people may feel uncertainty in the adoption of these new technologies, it is believed that by giving them real experiences of smart home devices, their usefulness and effectiveness should be more appreciated.