The DAT Project: A Smart Home Environment for People with Disabilities

The DAT project is a research initiative that aims at building up a smart home environment where people with disabilities can improve their abilities to cope with daily life activities by means of technologically advanced home automation solutions. The project has a threefold purpose. The smart home will be used as a physical setting, where clients with disabilities can follow individual programs aimed at improving their independence in the home environment. The smart house will also be used as a demonstration an educational laboratory where anybody interested can get knowledge of the latest advancements in the field of home automation and tele-care. Finally, the smart home will be used as research laboratory for testing and developing new clinical protocols and innovative solutions in the field of environmental control and home care. This article describes the architecture of the smart home, the design of the home automation system, and the research programs associated with the DAT project.