What's the best, state-of-the-art age-in-place system?

[LarrylLix]

Anybody have stats on people that died with their chain still on the night table? Maybe while they showered?
 
After the first nasty fall, if they survive, a nursing home is in order, not more electronic gadgets.
 
Multiple MS units can at least be sold as convenience as in a HA system with a notification system to a care person. It's the first wake-up call that needs to be addressed, not four or five times later, if  they ever happen.

 

[NeverDie]

In our case, there have been daily in-person visits, most often twice daily.  Those will continue and very soon will likely become more frequent.  Among other things, my aim for this to provide better coverage of the intervals between visits as well as provide a fallback in case scheduled visits get unexpectedly delayed or missed, regardless of the reason.   It's the real world, so nothing is perfect.  Therefore, ideally every plan needs one or more contingency plans to cover any shortfalls that might occur.
 
I'm not an expert on nursing homes, but from what I've seen they're not a panacea.  Each of them come with their own set of risks, failings, and often significant downsides.  They don't advertise those aspects, and may try to obscure or hide them, so often you can't really know what those are until after the fact.  As a result, if it is requires a lot of monitoring to safeguard, then you're not really ahead by much, if at all, as compared to what you can synthesize in a more pleasant home environment, relatively free of bureaucracy, but possibly with additional freelance help.  That's my perception of elderly care as it exists today.  Perhaps others have had different experiences, resulting in different viewpoints, and if so, I'm always interested to hear other opinions, especially contrary ones.

 

[ano]

Many of the systems can detect a fall, so there is no need to "remember" to press a button. Search for "Automatic fall detection for seniors." Fall sensors are basically at minimum of what is available today.  On the more high-end is a system like this: BeClose  http://beclose.com/default.aspx
Other systems can monitor heartrate, bloodpressure, falls, location, you name it. 
 
The state-of-the-art is certainly not a button you press when you have fallen. Maybe 20 years ago, but not today.

 

[NeverDie]

First impression of smartThings: disappointingly primitive.  To plot motion versus time for a motion sensor, I'd have to write a smartThings app in a language called groovy, or I need to find some way to redirect the datastream so I can parse it in real time and then post to a plotting service like Xively.  I don't see much leverage in that.  I may as well just code something on inexpensive arduinos than take on yet another dead-end learning curve.

 

[RAL]

First impression of smartThings: disappointingly primitive.  To plot motion versus time for a motion sensor, I'd have to write a smartThings app in a language called groovy, or I need to find some way to redirect the datastream so I can parse it in real time and then post to a plotting service like Xively.  I don't see much leverage in that.  I may as well just code something on inexpensive arduinos than take on yet another dead-end learning curve.

 
 
Thanks for the update.  When I first read about SmartThings, I wondered if it had some easy method that would allow you to analyze the inputs from multiple motion sensors so you could decide that motion from any one of them indicated that things were ok.  It sounds like they left that as an exercise for the user to write the code.

 

[LarrylLix]

Anybody setting up an occupancy detection program using multiple MS units knows this is very difficult to do reliably. The negative 'Away' is the hard part. eg: Grandma could be sitting in a chair watching TV for 2 hours without moving much.
 
What is the difference between that and an immobilising stroke using any sensor? Time can be critical in a stroke to avoid bigger permanent damage.

 

[NeverDie]

Thanks for the update.  When I first read about SmartThings, I wondered if it had some easy method that would allow you to analyze the inputs from multiple motion sensors so you could decide that motion from any one of them indicated that things were ok.  It sounds like they left that as an exercise for the user to write the code.

 
It does fairly easily allow you to define a room, say "Master Bedroom", and if you have multiple motion sensors there, to OR them.  Then, if either motion sensor triggers, it becomes something like "Motion in Master Bedroom detected."  In fact, I did that with two motion sensors in the master bedroom.
 
I'll likely keep smartThings for one simple reason: I get a time stamped update on my phone when any motion sensor (or designated room) has motion, and the smartThings android app allows that stream of updates to be completely segregated from my text messages.  Not only that, but I can put the same app on the phones of other family members, so they can easily check as well.
 
Already, one night of sensor readings prove that my mother probably isn't getting any proper deep sleep.  She doesn't have Alzheimer's, and so I think this is probably the root of what's gone wrong.  I'll present the findings to her doctor, so now he'll have a measurable treatment target, and we can monitor how well the ensuing treatment works. 

 

[NeverDie]

There are  temperature sensors that come built into the smartThings motion sensors and multi-sensors, but unfortunately those temperature sensors are crap.  So, I just ordered 4 smartThings dedicated temp-humidity sensors, and hopefully they're better.  If not, does anyone know of good Zigbee temperature sensors?  Though z-wave is theoretically a possibility, I really don't want to open that can of worms.
 
I also just ordered an Almond+.  I'm hoping it can read the Zigbee used by SmartThings, but I won't know unless I try.  If Almond+ works better than the smartThings hub, then I'll keep it and return the smartThings hub and the ASUS 802.11ac wi-fi router.  The net cost is a wash.
 
Unfortunately, the soonest I could get the securifi motion sensors through Amazon is July 30, so I didn't order any, and that's partly what drove me to SmartThings.  The Almond+, however, can be gotten overnight.  Go figure.
 
Interestingly, smartThings does have an arduino shield.  I can't receive it in time to try it on this trip, but maybe (?) it would open a range of possibilities toward patching the smartThings platform into something better and more useful.
 
The Lowes Iris zigbee motion sensors are smaller and cheaper ($20), so if those can be made to work with either the Almond+ or the smartThings platform, it could tilt the balance in favor of one or the other.

 

[damage]

The Lowes Iris zigbee motion sensors are smaller and cheaper ($20), so if those can be made to work with either the Almond+ or the smartThings platform, it could tilt the balance in favor of one or the other.

 
bestbuy has some zigbee sensors on sale for $20 so you might be able to go to your local store and pick some up instead of waiting for deliveries
 
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/peq-3-series-contact-sensor/8229286.p?id=1219317424758&skuId=8229286
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/peq-motion-sensor/8229135.p?id=1219317427020&skuId=8229135
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/peq-water-sensor-white/8229309.p?id=1219317425142&skuId=8229309
 
reviews say they work with smartthings and it looks like they should work with almond as well:
 
http://wiki.securifi.com/index.php?title=List_of_compatible_sensors_-_Almond%2B_2014

 

[NeverDie]

 
bestbuy has some zigbee sensors on sale for $20 so you might be able to go to your local store and pick some up instead of waiting for deliveries
 
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/peq-3-series-contact-sensor/8229286.p?id=1219317424758&skuId=8229286
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/peq-motion-sensor/8229135.p?id=1219317427020&skuId=8229135
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/peq-water-sensor-white/8229309.p?id=1219317425142&skuId=8229309
 
reviews say they work with smartthings and it looks like they should work with almond as well:
 
http://wiki.securifi.com/index.php?title=List_of_compatible_sensors_-_Almond%2B_2014

Thanks!  That pricing is certainly attractive.  A Zigbee PIR would be $19.99, the same as the Lowes Iris PIR Model #MOT901.  Unfortunately, none of the local BestBuy have it in stock, and my current trip will be over before I can get one shipped here.  I did pick up an IRIS PIR #MOT901 last night for $19.99 at a local Lowes, but I'm skeptical it will work with anything non-IRIS: it's not on the compatibility list you linked to.  Too bad.  

 

[NeverDie]

Ideally I'd like to plot the Zigbee temperature and PIR detections on a real-time graph, similar to what I currently use for monitoring my soil moisture:
https://plot.ly/~WhiteRabbit/997
 
It's far easier to see at a glance what has transpired with a time plot than it is to read a list of time-stamped events.  Yet, it's very common for home automation vendors to poorly support graphing, if at all.  A pity!

 

[NeverDie]

Nest Cam Update:  The Nest Cam's installed very easily.  Supposedly they offer 1080i images, which I did configure them for, but there's a lot of pixelation, making the effective resolution seem like a lot less.
 
They do have a fairly bright LED on them that annoy at nighttime.  Today I'll try masking it off with black electrical tape.  Also, the nightvision is rendered useless if there's reflection from nearby surfaces, so I'll need to try a different mounting today so as to avoid that.
 
On balance,  they're not great, but they're "good enough," and because of limited time I don't regret getting them, because I don't know of anything that's sure to be better.

 

[Deane Johnson]

NeverDie, my Mother is 103 and we've had a progressive decline down to almost no memory.  Some days she recognizes me, some days she doesn't.  She wore one of the pendants to call for help.  At about 98, she lost her balance in the basement (carpeted) and fell, hitting her head on the floor.  That was early in the evening.  She crawled around trying to get up, but couldn't get back on her feet.  Getting blood from a gash on her head on things, we could tell she had been trying all night long.  Finally, toward morning she pushed her pendant button and the neighbor came right over and got an ambulance.
 
I tell this story because it shows how the best laid plans sometimes don't work.  She got a concussion and couldn't remember what to do to get help.  At that point we moved her into an assisted living facility, then as she continued to fail, into a memory care unit.  Now, at 103 she just got moved to a skilled nursing facility.
 
Think in terms of it getting slowly worse, there's no avoiding it.  Don't make your plans just for her current capability, but for a declining capability.  It's hard to accept at times, but it's going to happen to all of us at some point.
 
Thinking in terms of a assisted living facility is something they really dread and avoid, but the fact of the matter is that they are usually pretty nice places and it's comforting to know they are relatively safe.

 

[NeverDie]

@Deane: thanks for sharing!  
 
Regarding the Almond+, I got cold feet so it's going back.  I was able to link it to a zigbee device, but it turns out the rules section is in "Beta", and it appears that all I can do as an action to respond to a sensor event is to set the "mode" to either "at home" or "away".  WTF?  I don't see much use in just that alone.   I'm probably overlooking something, but time pressure is making it a forced decision.  The UI is slightly screwy as well, though I could live with it.
 
Meanwhile, I'm finding out that the smartThings hub can be linked to from IFTTT, so that expands its capability and will probably allow me to redirect the datastream somewhere that I can parse and plot it.
 
So far, the nicest thing about smartThings is that I can text-chat with their technical support on weekdays to get answers, and their responses are very fast.   I've never experienced another product like that.
 
Also, it appears that I can do whatever I need to do with the smartthings hub remotely from anywhere on the internet.  I don't have be physically present.

 

[NeverDie]

Final update: 
It looks as though https://www.initialstate.com/ connects with smartThings cloud API to allow the data visualization I want to do.  At least that's what ST tech support says.
 
To me, that suggests I may be able to access the cloud API directly myself.  I'll need to check on that.
 
Alternately, I could try parsing the smartThings "live log", which is a live web feed of changes in sensor activity, and plot using plot.ly.  I can view the live log on my browser, so it should be possible...
 
So, with some amount of effort, I can probably find a way to plot smartThings sensor data the way I'd prefer to see it.
 
I guess that's the best I can do for now.  I'll anchor the hardware tonight, as I'm leaving tomorrow, and I'll hopefully be able to better visualize the datafeed at a later date after I get home.  Meanwhile, I can always view the raw datafeed, which is nonetheless informative and certainly better than nothing.  I'm getting about 500 sensor triggers per day, so it's not as useful raw as it would be with data analysis.
 
Luckily, there's no monthly cost with smartThings, as there would be with a Lowes Iris Hub.  Not a big deal, but nice.
 
I decided not to try the Lowes zigbee motion sensor after all, because I don't want to risk introducing a new element that might wedge things after I've left.  If I had more time, I'd try it, but as is, I'm just going to return it.  Most likely it wouldn't work anyway.