| by
Alan Joch
Sound design
Unlike Oatfield Estates, the Ryan School project is still
in its start-up phase. Although monitoring systems will be
an important element in helping its residents live independently,
C.E.O. Walker says, “Technology can’t do it all.”
The facility will have a residential manager on-site, and
a nurse will make routine visits each week to assess blood-pressure
and blood-sugar levels of residents.
The renovation of the Ryan School will save the building’s
outside structure as well as its interior support walls. Former
classrooms will become apartments ranging from 350-square-foot
studios to 1,400-square-foot, two-bedroom units. Perhaps the
biggest reminder that this used to be a high school will be
the spacious hallways, which will remain 9 feet wide. Architects
consulting for the project say the underlying monitoring technologies
will cause few problems in terms of design and construction,
except for one area: the web of wiring needed to connect the
scores of sensors with computers. Solutions to this problem,
including the use of wireless networks, is a research priority
in university test beds.
The monitoring system’s sensors, wiring, hardware, and
software will add about $2,500 to the cost of a one-bedroom
apartment, Kessler estimates. If similar monitoring systems
become commonplace in assisted-care facilities, the added
cost could drop to $1,000 or less, he believes.
In a nod to privacy, each resident will have the choice to
“opt out” of monitoring, says JABA’s Walker.
“We’ll wire each of the apartments, but if anyone
feels it’s too intrusive, we’ll shut it off,”
he says. Focus groups show that some prospective residents
are leery about being monitored, especially because most don’t
use any digital devices. “At first, they ask, ‘Will
this be like having a bunch of Peeping Toms?’ ”
Walker says. “But the more we describe this as a supplement
to their care, the greater confidence they have.” He
adds that the system appeals to family members who seek assurances
that an elderly relative will quickly receive care in an emergency.
Aside from Big Brother fears, developers of elder-monitoring
systems grapple with another problem—information overload.
How can anyone make sense of the data when the tiniest details
of every individual within an apartment complex are recorded
24 hours a day? MARC’s Alwan says his group is attacking
the problem by devising analysis programs that use data-mining
and pattern-recognition techniques pioneered by corporations
and the military to spot trends and glean meaning from mounds
of statistics. “Our intention is for the system to do
the analyses and give the results to caregivers,” he
says.
More than bingo
Walker hopes that if the Ryan School project succeeds, ubiquitous-monitoring
technologies will eventually defer nursing-home admissions
for millions of aging Americans whose physical and mental
health allow them some degree of independence. Although there
is no guarantee that around-the-clock monitoring will ever
be accepted as the norm, one thing is clear—architects
are looking for new models that help them address the graying
of baby boomers. “It’s not enough to just have bingo
and grab bars anymore,” Kessler says about housing for
the elderly. The question is, does installing dozens of “senior
cams” throughout a building cross the line from not enough
to too much?
|
Video