One morning, an older man doesn't go to the kitchen for breakfast as he usually does. Instead, he's still sitting on the edge of his bed, feeling light‑headed. His smart home's sensors notice the change in his routine and heart rate and send an alert to his caregiver, who checks in right away. He's reassured that if it had been something serious, help could have been on the way in minutes.
This scene could soon be a reality for many older adults. Smart home technology is evolving to help people age safely and independently in the comfort of their own homes.
And that's precisely the goal of a collaborative project involving the NRC's Aging in Place Challenge program (AiP), Carleton University, Bruyère Health Research Institute and Canadian industry leaders that aims to integrate health monitoring into age-friendly homes.
Innovative pathways to maintaining independence
Currently, smart homes allow residents to control their appliances, lighting and home systems remotely. However, the future of smart homes is becoming even more promising. Researchers are developing advanced sensor technologies to monitor information such as heart rate, breathing and body movements and provide crucial data to caregivers and emergency services.
"Ongoing assessment of an older adult's well-being is vital for supporting aging in place," says Dr. Pengcheng Xi, a senior research scientist with the NRC's Digital Technologies Research Centre and an adjunct research professor at Carleton University. "By detecting early signs of health issues, we hope this technology will reduce hospitalizations and improve health management."
Smart collaborations
Demographic trends show why this work matters. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada's 2020 report Aging and chronic diseases: A profile of Canadian seniors, about 9 in 10 Canadians aged 65 or older live in private homes, and nearly one‑third live alone. These numbers highlight the need for solutions that support safe, independent living.
Developing such innovative systems requires expertise from many disciplines, and bringing the right people together can be challenging. The NRC's Challenge programs were created to make this kind of collaboration possible.
"Through the NRC's Aging in Place Challenge program, we've brought together expertise from medicine, psychology, health science, nursing and engineering," says Dr. Rafik Goubran, Vice-President (Research, Innovation and International) at Carleton University. "This interdisciplinary collaboration has been pivotal in developing novel approaches to remotely monitor the vital signs and daily living activities of older adults living at home."
Dr. Xi and his collaborators at Carleton University and Bruyère Health are focusing on ambient sensing solutions that use sound and video data to understand daily routines—especially kitchen activities, where detecting changes in routine can be a key measure of safety.
Another important part of the project explores how AI can enable privacy-preserving data analysis. This approach aims to improve smart home systems so they can better meet the health needs of older adults while protecting user privacy and enhancing data security. These advances also bring the technology closer to market readiness.
To date, the collaborations have led to 25 peer-reviewed publications and the development of intellectual property, helping move the project from experimental research toward real‑world application. The work has also attracted new talent and trained emerging experts in the field.
A smarter future
Looking ahead, the commercialization of these technologies could transform aging in place for Canadians, creating safer, more connected homes and opening the door to new partnerships with industry.
Patricia Debergue, director of the NRC's Aging in Place Challenge program, envisions a smarter future where AI-powered sensors and perhaps even assistive robots enable caregivers to focus on what matters most — ensuring older adults can live independently, safely, and with dignity in the settings of their choice.