Smartline - On the road talking about the Internet of Things (IoT)
Aico Seminars #Smartersafer 2022. London, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham
Sharing the Smartline story across Aico seminars
Over the past few weeks, our team has been out on the road sharing the Smartline story at Aico seminars in London, Glasgow and Manchester, with each seminar exploring the role of Internet of Things (IoT) technology in creating healthier and safer homes.
“It was great to share Smartline’s practical experience in applying sensor technology over the past five years with colleagues working across housing and public health. It feels like this technology is starting to take off. There was significant interest in what this technology can offer consumers and the practicalities of installing and using it.” - Ruth Gripper, Research Impact Manager, Smartline Project
As part of the Smartline project, Coastline Housing has been using sensor data to target customer support and help manage their stock of homes in Camborne, Illogan, Pool and Redruth. Together with the Coastline team and the participants who have kindly allowed us to install sensors in their homes, we have been learning what this technology can teach us about healthy homes.
What research innovation did we highlight?
• Our online dashboard has helped Coastline Housing spot problems earlier than they might otherwise have done.
• This technology can be a valuable tool that helps support health and wellbeing at scale – if organisations are ready to act on what the data tells them.
• Sensor systems help identify risk, but it is vital technology is backed up by the human capacity to provide support.
The future is sensory - Internal household sensors feed back data directly to the online dashboard controlled by the occupant and the housing management team.
What did we learn?
• The market has developed since Smartline started, with several commercial players looking at sensor technology, dashboards for service providers and apps for residents to help improve conditions in the home.
• With many changes on the horizon in the housing sector, it will be exciting to see where this technology goes next, and we look forward to being part of that conversation.
This is a picture of the sensors that have been installed to monitor room temperature and air humidity in people’s homes (image credit: https://housing.invisible-systems.com/temperature-humidity-logger-2?hsLang=en).
• Designing technical solutions in isolation from the people who will use them doesn’t work. Professor Tim Sharpe, Head of Architecture at Strathclyde University and a member of the government’s SAGE environmental and modelling group, was also on the panel sharing his expertise on indoor air quality and ventilation. It was revealing to see the research into how ventilation systems perform in real life instead of scrolling through factory settings. Even the most sophisticated new systems can fail if they are not installed, maintained, or used correctly. Again, this shows the value of doing research in real-life settings – something that has been at the core of Smartline since the project began.
What happens next?
“Throughout Aico seminars, it was exciting to see that work achieved at Smartline has not only been ground-breaking but is quickly becoming more widespread; there is plenty more to do – not least, making sure new technology is matched by human support. For example, what good is telling people their homes are too cold or poorly ventilated if funds aren’t available to do anything about it?”
- Ruth Gripper, Knowledge Exchange Officer, University of Exeter