Home Automation is part of the Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator webinar series, Remote Supports. Recorded February 2025.
Explore how to make the most of smart home technologies! We discuss how to:
The video includes captions and ASL interpretation. The transcript is below.
CAITLIN MCKENNY: Welcome. Thank you all for joining us today for February's tech accelerator webinar. Our presentation topic this month is home automation for being self-sufficient. And this session is being recorded, and the video will include picture in picture ASL translation, as well as a full transcript. So you'll be able to access that recording on our website at disabilities.temple.edu, and I'll put that link in the chat for everybody to access later, as well.
And that website is also where you can register for future webinars. So TechOWL has a wonderful series of 18 topics, running from July of 2024 to December of 2025. Each is being held on the third Thursday of the month and is offered at two times, 12:00 noon and at 4:00 PM, so you can pick whichever fits your schedule. They are the same content.
We have a guest speaker scheduled for next month. Tiffany Wilson will be coming to talk to us about safety and privacy issues that intersect with implementing smart home technology. So that will be a wonderful session. We're looking forward to that, and especially useful for those of you in attendance today who will already have a nice base of knowledge about the types of devices and the functions that are available through smart home equipment, so make sure to join us again next month for that session on March 20.
And all of these webinars are part of the Tech Accelerator program. So this is an initiative funded by the Office of Developmental Programs and the Office of Long Term Living here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and this project is made possible through funding from the American Rescue Plan Act.
The Pennsylvania Tech Accelerator Project includes five major focus areas, training and resources to build capacity for stakeholders, readiness evaluation to develop tools for successful adoption of remote supports and assistive tech, a statewide assessment to plan and benchmark the technology for systems change, a provider survey to assess technology awareness and resources among providers, and finally, two technology summits, which will be live events hosted in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh this coming March to enhance awareness of tech solutions. So you can learn more about all of these fantastic projects on our website at disabilities.temple.edu by using the link that I put in the chat.
And with that, I would like to turn it over to today's speaker, Laura Sarnoff, who's going to share with us some wonderful information about smart home technology.
LAURA SLOTKOFF: Hello, everyone. Let me pull up the presentation.
All right. And as Caitlin said, this presentation is to give an overview of smart home automation for being self-sufficient.
My name is Laura Slotkoff. I'm the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator at TechOWL. I'm also an occupational therapist and RESNA-certified assistive technology professional. And my experience with smart home equipment is having been on an AT evaluation team. I participated in evaluations of adults and for the Office of Vocational Rehab, including how they can use smart home technology to help them perform tasks in their job or in college with their schoolwork.
And I also participated in the Pennsylvania AT Foundation's Smart Homes Made Simple advisory committee. I have a few links related to that later on. That was a project by the Pennsylvania AT Foundation, where they created a website and guide with a lot of very helpful information for how smart home equipment and devices can be helpful for people with disabilities, and making that information accessible for people with disabilities.
So this is just an outline of what I'm going to be talking about, just general overview of smart home equipment. Talk a little bit about can benefit from that equipment. I'll give examples of different types of devices, talk about how to get started installation and setup of devices. And then I'll talk a little bit about funding and answer any questions you all may have.
So what is smart home technology? These are devices that allow you to more easily monitor and control your home. They are mainstream off the shelf devices, which tends to mean that they are more affordable and accessible than certain past environmental control units that were made specifically for people with disabilities that used to exist.
And these devices can allow you to manage your lighting, heating and cooling, appliances, security, and entertainment at home. And part of what's so great about them is they have a lot of different features about how you act that can help you activate them in different ways than just turning a light switch with your hand.
Most are controlled through a central hub or through their own individual devices and have apps of their own that they come with. You need a smartphone, usually, to operate them. And they also need to be connected through a network. Usually that is Wi-Fi internet access. Sometimes that is a different type of network, like Bluetooth, or a mesh network like Zigbee.
Some of the different ways these devices can be activated is by touch, voice command, or through the use of assistive technology devices, like switches, joysticks, gaze, and augmentative and alternative communication systems.
So who could benefit from smart home technology? The answer is honestly anyone. It can make your life much simpler and more streamlined, which is really nice, but it can be especially helpful for those with disabilities or older adults to be able to increase their independence and participation in activities at home.
While not every device has every feature to accommodate any type of need, I'm going to go through and give a few examples of the accessibility features that can help to empower you in home with smart home devices. So for somebody who has difficulty with mobility or using their hands, a lot of these devices can be activated with switches, eye gaze, or voice control, making operating a variety of appliances and devices hands free, which can be a real game changer for somebody who has limited use of their hands or mobility.
There's also, if somebody uses a motorized wheelchair, whatever input they use to control the wheelchair, like a joystick, for example, they could use Bluetooth to connect to their smartphone and to smart devices throughout their home through that smartphone, and use the joystick to operate it.
If someone has learning disabilities, difficulty with their memory or cognition, they can benefit from the variety of options for auditory, visual, and/or tactile cues and reminders. Things-- so like auditory, if they have a smart speaker, it can say reminders to them, like you need to leave for work in 15 minutes, you have a meeting starting in five minutes, if they need that verbal cue. Visually, if they have-- it can send a text or alert to either a smartwatch or their phone. And tactile cues usually mean, say, if they have a wearable device, a smart device like a watch, it'll vibrate to give them a cue to check on something.
You can also set up automatic schedules, which only need to be set up once, and then you don't have to think about it again, so, for example, a smart vacuum to go on at 4:00 PM every day. And smart sensors, such as movement sensors that can automatically turn on lights when you walk into a room, so you don't have to have the cognitive load of thinking about and making as many choices throughout the day. You can have things just set up for you.
If somebody has a speech-related disability, I will say that while they have made some strides with smart speakers to be more inclusive of recognizing different types of voices and enunciations and speech speeds, it's still not great. If you have impaired speech, it may make it hard to operate devices by voice. There is, fortunately, a variety of other inputs that can be used, such as the different ways of controlling touch and with switches. And also, fortunately, my experience has been that they tend to recognize a lot of voices used in alternative and augmentative communication devices, as well.
And if somebody has a hearing loss related disability, the tactile cues, the vibration from wearables and smart devices can be very helpful, as well as the visual alerts, like flashing lights. So that can be used with anything from you get a flashing light alert or a vibration when someone rings the doorbell, or maybe you have a smart smoke alarm that instead of setting off an alarm that you can't hear, it flashes a light and sends a message to you to your device.
I'm just going to go through a few examples of different types of smart home equipment that are out there, and how those can be helpful. For lighting control, a dark house can be intimidating, but also dangerous for people of any age. With smart lighting in the form of in-wall switches or dimmers and LED bulbs, you have so many more options. It allows you to put lighting on a schedule. You can have lights triggered by movement or other devices, or simply turn the lights on and off with a voice command or a smartphone.
This can also improve safety, such as by being able to turn off the light easily at the end of the day from in bed, rather than needing to-- if it's set up like the way my bedroom is, the overhead light switch is right by the door, and if I didn't use smart home technology, I would have to at the end of the day turn off the light by the door and then stumble in the dark to my bed. This changes that. No need for that.
Smart bulbs can also give you the flexibility to change the brightness and color of the light, which is very nice. It can also be helpful for outdoor lighting, which you can set to automatically come on when it gets dark.
Smart thermostat and other such devices like fans, smart fireplaces, smart blinds, these can all be helpful for controlling the temperature within the home and give somebody more independence for controlling that. You can even have this to be integrated as part of a routine, such as by giving a voice command at nighttime can trigger the window blinds to close, a fan to start, and the thermostat to be set to 70 degrees or whatever you want it to be at. And these features might be especially important for somebody who isn't able to turn on or off or set these things with their hands, and maybe have a condition where symptoms are triggered by heat.
And it would also really be helpful for home access. With smart locks for doors, you never have to worry about a forgotten key again. There's smart locks that can be unlocked through a fingerprint, a code, or a phone app. Also, smart doorbells often have a camera, so you can see on your phone or smart display who's at the door, when packages are delivered, even if you're not there at the time.
Also, if you're somebody who has caregivers frequently coming in and out of the home, it can make it easier to track who arrives and when, and easier to be able to let them in and out safely without having to leave the door unlocked all day or a key outside.
Another important area is safety and security. There are indoor and outdoor smart cameras and security systems, smart smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. One thing that's nice about the security system is they usually contain multiple things, like maybe the camera and the detectors all in one. So you know that they're compatible and you don't need to juggle different devices and different apps.
One thing that's nice about the smart smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in particular is that you can, as I was saying before, you can set how change how the alarm works. So it doesn't have to be sound. It can be in addition to a siren, have a flashing light. You can have a message sent to your phone or another type of device. And it can also send messages to caregivers and neighbors, loved ones, to alert them, as well.
Wearables such as smartwatches can help with tracking health information and alert caregivers or emergency providers in the event of a fall. This is actually something that has been really helpful for my mother, who has some conditions that have made her as she's gotten older, her balance is not as good, and that has been a big concern that she might fall when no one else was around. So her having a smartwatch has actually helped her to get help when she was home alone and had a fall.
There's also a variety of supports for caregivers to monitor and provide support for an individual remotely, and to be easily alerted in the event of an emergency. This can allow for the person at home to have increased independence while also giving peace of mind for caregivers.
One example is a smart medication dispenser, which provides alerts, can send a text, a verbal reminder, vibration cue, whatever it's set up for, to a smartwatch or to a phone, with a reminder to take a medication, and can also let when you're close to running out and need a refill. And if you do miss a dose, it can then alert your caregiver or like a parent, for example, instead of maybe that parent otherwise would be constantly reminding and nagging, which isn't great for either side. So this is a way that can help.
These different types of smart home equipment can also help for access to TV shows, movies, podcasts, music, radio, a lot of smart speakers. You can use them to get the news, hear a joke. It might not be a good joke, but it can tell you jokes. Also to stream different apps and things on the TV, which is really nice, having the option to do that through eye gaze or through a switch or through voice. The other nice thing is, if you're playing music or a podcast, the devices can actually provide suggestions for what to listen to next.
Use of smart home speakers and apps can be really helpful for different types, all different types of home management tasks, such as finding out information, paying bills and managing finances, coordinating transportation, managing your calendar, and creating reminders and lists. For example, you could create your grocery list just using your voice and have it show up on the smart display, and possibly even use an app to order groceries through the smart display.
You can also use smart speaker and/or various smart apps to make grocery lists. And-- I said that. I'm sorry.
You can also have it send a reminder before an appointment, or when it's time to leave to get somewhere. And smart vacuums and mops can ensure messes and spills are cleaned up right away and clean the floors on a schedule. So if you want it done every-- if you want the vacuum to go every day at 4:00 PM, you can set it once and it'll go every day at 4:00 PM. Automatic food and water dispensers can also that only need to be occasionally refilled can also be helpful for taking care of pets.
There are also smart plugs that can turn most simple, not smart electronic devices, if they have a simple on and off like a coffee machine, if you plug it into the smart plug, it becomes a smart home tool.
There are also smart larger appliances, like smart fridges, smart ovens, and stove tops. These tend to be more expensive and sometimes just something to keep in mind, the technology that makes them smart may not last as long as its not smart counterpart, meaning they may need to replace the entire appliance sooner if the chip inside of it dies. So that's just something to keep in mind.
Smart speakers and displays can also connect you to a variety of other smart devices. If you do have a display and you have difficulty with your vision, it can be helpful for Alexa has something called show and tell. There's an app called Be My Eyes app, and they can actually use the camera inside the smart device. If you put an object in front of it, it can verbally identify the object.
So this can be used to help streamline your schedule. I just wanted to talk for a minute about automation and routines. So automation is when you set the time and schedule for a smart device. And it just goes, like I was saying with the smart vacuum, if you want it to run every day at 4:00 PM, you set it once and it goes. You set your alarm clock for a certain time five days a week, it's done. It stays, it goes.
While routines, for this, one command can trigger multiple smart home devices to take actions. So if an alarm goes off to wake you up in the morning or you a smart speaker reports the weather and the appointments you have that day, smart coffee maker turns on, all of that can happen with one trigger. Or at the end of the day, if you say, Alexa, good night, maybe that cues other smart home devices to turn off the lights, turn the overhead fan on, and turn a white noise machine on. So it's really nice having that option to really set up routines and make it all smooth and connected.
So just figured I'd walk you through a little possible smart morning routine. Just an example of how it can enhance that routine. Say I wake up in the morning. I use the wake word, Alexa, and say, good morning, Alexa, good morning. This triggers my smart speaker to tell me the weather, whatever appointments and meetings I have scheduled for that day. And also, my coffee machine turns on and all that happens with just the one trigger.
I may also have previously set up smart home features on an automatic schedule, so I have my reminder going off to take my medication. I do that, and then if I'm losing track of time, I can have the smart speaker send a voice alert out and a message to my phone saying, 30 minute warning to go to work in 30 minutes, and then again at 15 minutes, it can tell me. So do I need to go in 15.
The watch, so having a smart watch can be especially helpful for this. Say I'm in a different room than where my speaker is, so I may have forgotten my phone somewhere and don't have the speaker in the room. I will still get the alert because of my watch. And then when I do leave for work, I can double check on my phone that all my kitchen appliances and lights are turned off and my door automatically locks. If I need to go back in because I forgot something, maybe I can just use my fingerprint or a code on my phone to quickly go back in and grab whatever it is.
So I know that's a lot of information, and there's a lot of devices out there. So it can be a little overwhelming where to get started. It's OK to start small. A lot of people start with just either like a smart speaker or a smart display, since there's so much you can do with just that, and then can grow from there. It does get more complicated as you add more devices, because you do have to be really thoughtful about device compatibility and make sure they work together.
So as you consider what devices might be best for you, you really want to think about what you want to accomplish, where in your home you want to accomplish it, and what features you need. The Smart Home Made Simple website has a really nice assessment guide that walks you through with a bunch of questions and checklists to help you determine that information, and also to figure out the compatibility, all the different pieces. And I'll show you an example of that at the end.
So this I did take right from the smart home website. I thought it was a really nice and helpful list of the basics of what you need to install, connect, and set up your devices. You do need a mobile device. While a tablet can work, a smartphone tends to be preferred. It's more secure, and there may be features that you can't get on a tablet that you can on a smartphone. And you want to make sure you have the latest version of Android or iOS, the Apple operating system.
You definitely want to make sure you have a dependable Wi-Fi internet service at the location where you want the device to be installed, and there is a Wi-Fi extender, if needed, for internet access in certain places.
You also need access to your router, its ID and password, and a system for creating and managing multiple secure passwords. Fortunately, there are apps that can help with that.
And you may need somebody to help you, either you or someone else who has the comfort and ability to install and support the devices. This might include rebooting the router, plugging devices in, and understanding how devices connect to Wi-Fi.
You also want an understanding of the limits of your home construction, electrical system, and internet connection. So you want to make sure your internet speed isn't too slow for it to work on. If you need something hardwired, you may need to hire an electrician, such as for a smart switch. In home construction, that might be something such as putting in a smart lock on a door.
So you can look into getting professional support if it is necessary. If you do need more, if your team, you and your team need some extra help, like I said, maybe for an electrician or a handyman to help with the construction tasks, you can find a lot of handymen through the app Handy and Angie's List, things like that. A lot of them are able to help with simple setup of devices and attaching, say, a smart camera to the outside wall, something like that.
Also, if you buy a device from somewhere like Best Buy or Lowe's, they may have installation service they can provide. I know Best Buy definitely does. You can also get help from professionals like occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech language pathologists, and assistive technology specialists.
If you're still having a really hard time, It's a more complex smart home setup you're going for, there are also professional smart home installation companies. You can usually find them by searching on Google. One good one in the Philly area I know is called Sun Curb.
So I also wanted to talk a little bit about funding, some considerations for that. The prices of smart home equipment can really range depending on what it is, from $20 for a smart plug to thousands for a smart fridge. If you do want to try some smart home equipment for free before purchasing, not a smart fridge, but we have smart speakers and displays and some sensors, things like that. The TechOWL assistive technology lending library has a few smart home kits that anyone in Pennsylvania can borrow for free for five weeks.
Another thing you might want to consider when purchasing is seeing if it's a one time fee or an ongoing subscription fee. Some may charge a subscription to get all the features of the device or storage, if it's like a camera and you want to store the video that it's been taking over time. There also can be a fee for some health monitoring communication systems.
Also, you want to consider if you need funding for any accessories, such as a mount for a smart display or the installation costs, like having smart windows installed or a smart fan hardwired.
Even though smart home technology is considered mainstream off the shelf, it is also assistive technology. And because of that, there are some programs that can help with funding for it, such as Pennsylvania's HCBS waiver program, as well as the Office of Vocational Rehab, if you're working with them and you show smart home equipment that it could help you at work or in college, they may be able to help fund that. The Pennsylvania AT Foundation also has an alternate financing program where they can provide no interest and low interest loans. There's also private grants out there.
So here's our contact information. Please feel free to reach out and talk to us and get in touch at any time. Now I'm going to see if you guys-- well, I'm going to show you-- I said questions, but let me-- first. I'm going to actually show you guys some of the resources I was talking about.
So this is in our TechOWL lending library. You can get a smart home kit that includes one Echo Plus and one Echo Dot, so there's two smart speakers, a smart light bulb, one contact center, and two smart plugs to try out. We also have two Echo Show displays available to lend out for free.
We also have on our website a bit more information. As I was saying, you really have to think about compatibility with devices. If you go, say, to the Amazon Smart Home page, you can find all of their Amazon-specific smart home equipment, which of course, is all going to be compatible with each other. Same thing if you go with Google Home, which is a very common one. If you go to their site, you're able to find all of their devices. And if you buy it from the same company and organization, it does tend to be easier to set it all up and have it work together.
This is Best Buy's smart home page. I just wanted to show that they are able to help with setup of smart home equipment bought through them, which is really nice. They also have some really nice resources on their page.
And here's Home Depot's. They also have some nice resources, buying guides that can provide a lot of good tips, as well.
OK, I got one more page to show you. So this is the self-assessment tool I mentioned from Smart Homes Made Simple. It starts with just a simple checklist asking about what are the daily and routine activities you want to be able to do more independently at home, and then it goes on asking about some more specifics about your disability and technology, information about your home, the areas of your home you may want to have devices in, and information about your technology brand preference, if you prefer Android versus Apple and what technology you currently have. So you can-- it makes it really nice and streamlined to be able to see it all in one place and see how it'll all work together.
And this is something, along with the Smart Home Made Simple guide, that is available for free on the Smart Homes Made Simple website. And this was put together by the Pennsylvania AT Foundation.
So here's the table of contents. It also has that self-assessment tool right in there. And it gives information about stories from people with disabilities who have smart home technology and how they use it in their homes, as well as advice for getting started, how to set it up, where to find support, where to find funding, a lot of good tips and information in a way that's nice and accessible, which is great.
If you also go on the website for the smarthomesmadesimple.org, you can also find videos of webinars talking more about different aspects of smart home equipment and videos showing people with disabilities in their home environment, using that smart home equipment, and how they use it.
Yeah, so it has a lot of good information. Nice layout. It's easy to look at in here.
CAITLIN MCKENNY: Laura, if I can interrupt you, we do have a few questions in the chat that you might want to discuss.
So the first question, you did partially answer that, but if there's anything else you'd like to add, who could help this get this tech running smoothly? So was this something that TechOWL would guide someone with, or what would your installation options be?
LAURA SLOTKOFF: Yeah, so I see you put Sun Curb in there. They are a good resource if you need a lot more help. It depends on what type of help you need with it, I would think. So especially if you're going to borrow from us, I would think that we might be able to help somewhat. We do have a hotline number for TechOWL, and I can pull that up, if you need.
CAITLIN MCKENNY: Certainly. And especially if you're in a decision making part of your process, if you're interested in speaking with someone about access methods for your controls, if you want to know about will my AC device be compatible with voice control, or do I need an adaptation to be able to use a switch or a touch screen differently? We'd love to help you problem solve that if you live in Pennsylvania. So TechOWL is limited to Pennsylvania, but every state and US territory has a state AT Act program. And I could put a link in the chat for you to find your local program if you're not in Pennsylvania.
LAURA SLOTKOFF: Yeah, I was just going to say the same thing. And like you said, there's a lot of-- if you just get a handyman, sometimes that's all-- That might be all you need to help install it. A locksmith at this point, and most of them would probably know how to install a smart lock.
If you're renting, I would definitely say talk to your landlord if you need something installed that's going to change the environment. And if you do have any therapists who come into the home or who you see to help support you on a regular basis, they might be able to help, as well.
And we can definitely, like she was saying, help with the decision making process. And oops, sorry. Here is our number and email and chat feature if you want any support at any point.
You say there's any other questions? Caitlin?
CAITLIN MCKENNY: It looks like that was most of our questions. You already mentioned that if you are in a rental, you'll want to get permission from your landlord before making any structural changes, like installing an alternative door lock. But that is a reasonable accommodation, so they'll just let you know if they want you to uninstall it and replace the original lock when you move out.
And we also had a question about some specific devices, some interest in a smart pill box. That would be a wonderful thing to be able to try out from the TechOWL lending library or through your local AT Act program if you're not in Pennsylvania. They do come in lots of different shapes and sizes, with different functions and features, depending on if you need them to be locked or if it's OK for them to be accessible. So it's a great opportunity to use the library there.
LAURA SLOTKOFF: Thanks. Are there any devices that will allow you to amplify your voice? So we actually were just talking about it's something that I know that they've been working on behind the scenes for improving recognition of voices better. But I don't know that it's totally there yet.
CAITLIN MCKENNY: Anyone who has a low volume voice might already want to consider personal wearable voice amplifiers for conversational purposes anyway, and those same tools will also be helpful for helping Alexa hear you better, as well.
LAURA SLOTKOFF: And I do think there are some smart home features, like on an iPhone, to help with that, as well.
I know if you have a stutter or speak slowly, that can be an issue at times, that it has a set time that it listens for, and if you don't say what it's listening for fast enough, sometimes it won't catch it, which can be an issue.
CAITLIN MCKENNY: Another option could potentially be if you are using your phone, to have a Bluetooth microphone connected to your phone, so you're wearing a little lapel microphone or something maybe on a headset, and that will bring your voice directly to your phone to give the commands if you happen to be using your phone for that.
Great. Well, I will-- can we put up the survey link? Yes, you got it. You know it's going.
LAURA SLOTKOFF: Yeah, sorry. For some reason, it wasn't letting me see the chat at the same time as I was sharing my screen. So I took it down so I could read any questions and comments.
So here's the link to our survey, title of presentation, Home Automation, presenter, Laura S. That's me. And hope this was helpful. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any further questions that we can help with.
CAITLIN MCKENNY: And there will be a follow up email that contains the materials from today's presentation, as well as a link to register for any future webinars that you might be interested in attending, such as that March 20 smart home privacy topic. We'd love to see you there, as well, so look for a follow up email sometime over the next couple of days that will have the slides from today and have a link to additional opportunities.
