Architectural Record | Continuing Education | The House of the Future Has Arrived

	home

free e-newsletter

	reader service

	widget

	advertise

Subscribe to Architectural Record today
and save 60% off the newsstand price.

Resources

Continuing Education

----- Advertising -----

RECORD BLOGS: RECENT POSTS

View all Record Blogs

Video

View all

Reader Feedback

Most Commented

Most Recommended

Rankings reflect comments made in the past 14 days

Architectural Record in print

Subscribe to Architectural Record
Manage your print subscription
Order Additional Copies and Back Issues
Get Architectural Record Collections Issues
– Record Houses
– Interiors
– Design Vanguard
– AIA Honor Awards

The House of the Future Has Arrived Researchers at MIT are revolutionizing house design and construction so that aging Baby Boomers can grow old at home.

Page 5 of 7

By Sara Hart

Home is where the heart (monitor) is
Sure, there are gadgets galore that will turn on your oven or air conditioner or feed the dog an hour before you arrive home. Home-security systems proliferate with ever more sophisticated motion sensors, alarms, and other detection devices and third-party alerts. The MIT investigators are less interested in what gadgetry can be applied than they are in what technology can be integrated.

Preventive measures.
Graduate student Joseph Su used probabilistic reasoning to generate context-sensitive questions that supplement weight and blood- pressure data to judge whether the occupant is at risk for congestive heart failure.

An integrated-component approach to building will allow for far more sophisticated, responsive environments to be created through the integration of low cost sensing and communication media. The problem, again, is the difficulty of incorporating these complex and fragile technologies into environments with conventional stick-built construction. Technology companies developing products and services for home-based health care, work, commerce, play, energy conservation, and communication will require a sophisticated, agile, upgradable infrastructure in the home.

Page 5 of 7