Automated Spaces was invited by the Royal Society to go to Parliament (November 5), where the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Assistive and Accessible Technology (APPGAT), partnered with the Royal Society and Steve Darling MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Work and Pensions, to host a Parliamentary Breakfast Reception on technology for disability inclusion and accessibility.
Joined by Minister for Disabled People, The Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms MP, the event highlighted how science and innovation can improve access to assistive and accessible technology (ATech) for the 16.1 million disabled people in the UK and how the UK’s innovation ecosystem can better embed inclusion in design and delivery.
Speakers included Professor Annalu Waller OBE and Sir Bernard Silverman, who marked the parliamentary launch of the Royal Society’s Disability Technology report.
Guests also had the opportunity to explore hands-on demonstrations of cutting-edge ATech from Smartbox Assistive Technology, Sony PlayStation, SensePilot, CareScribe, Waymap and smart home installation company Automated Spaces.
Alan Matthews, Director of Automated Spaces, explains, “Automated Spaces had the opportunity to showcase our Independent Living Technology solutions to The Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms (Minister of State for Social Security and Disability), Steve Darling MP, several other MPs and numerous assistive technology champions.
“These solutions are based around a Control4 controller, combined with an activity monitoring dashboard and the ability to subsequently trigger proactive actions within the environment – for example, one proactive action would be our concept of Nudges.”
The right alerts
Alan explains that Nudges are alerts generated by the activity monitoring dashboard which, in the right circumstances, can trigger a suitable proactive action on the smart home hub to support an individual to help themselves in the first instance. For example, if someone who has dementia hasn’t been in their kitchen by 10am, then they likely have not had breakfast. Rather than immediately sending an alert to a third party to check on the person – which can be demeaning, with someone constantly popping round – the system can trigger an audible ‘Nudge’ announcement played over a speaker in the home to encourage the person to consider having breakfast.
Alan says, “Perhaps with a little support from technology, we might be able to assist that person to help themselves, thus regaining their independence and promoting their dignity. With the added reassurance that if the person doesn’t respond to the Nudge, then after an appropriate amount of time, the issue will be escalated to an appropriate third party for them to take the required action.”
Automated Spaces also demonstrated the company’s Activity Monitoring Dashboard (a custom-made Control4 driver) as well as the Aqara Fall Detection and Presence mmWave Radar Sensor and its practical applications in an Independent Living Smart Spaces context.
To read the informative Disability Technology report produced by the Royal Society Disability Technology Steering Committee, chaired by Sir Bernard Silverman FRS, check out this link.
All images courtesy of the Royal Society