Future Shape, ProKNX and Theben AG have partnered together to offer a secure home solution for elderly people living at home.
The LUXORliving smart home system can be enhanced with the Aragon voice assistant from ProKNX and SensFloor from Future Shape. The three companies presented the product combination for the first time at Light+Building 2024 in Frankfurt in March this year.
The LUXORliving Smart Start smart home system is based on radio signals and can be installed quickly without major construction work and offers functions such as switching, dimming, drives, climate control, panic function, window contact, and time control.
“In this collaboration, we are taking on the special challenge of self-determined living in old age and jointly offering the advantage of bringing a complete package with optimally functioning and already tried and tested interfaces to the market,” said Jens Pfister, head of building automation business unit at Theben AG. “What’s more, customers have just one point of contact.”
The SensFloor system is a giant touchpad responsible for monitoring the home as it can detect every movement. It consists of a sensor underlay, a small receiver and smart software the analyses and displays the sensor data.
“The SensFloor software analyses the tracks, recognises situations and triggers the stored actions,” explained Axel Steinhage, managing director at Future Shape. “The system can learn everyday processes, such as the daily routine in a room, under AI control and report any noticeable deviations. The recordings are anonymous, 100% compliant with data protection regulations and are only processed locally.”
If the resident falls and can no longer help themselves, SensFloor either carries out predefined actions or communicates with the injured person via the Aragon voice control system.
The offline voice control system, Aragon, is part of the ProKNX product line. It works without cloud services, protecting privacy by ensuring that everything said remains in the room. Commands are only processed locally on the device.
“Although offline, Aragon’s vocabulary is not restricted and remains at least as diverse as that of online assistants,” said Christian Kiefel, CEO of ProKNX. For example, special commands can be defined for the application, such as communication between Aragon and SensFloor, which increases the safety of residents.
Aragon also allows users to control and query devices and functions such as lights, TVs, shutters, heating and alarm clocks.
“This means that physically impaired people in particular can use the functions of their home without restriction via voice control,” added Kiefel. “We see great benefits for the ageing society in the cooperation between ProKNX, Future Shape, and Theben AG. In the future, we will encounter topics relating to self-determined living in old age and ambient assisted living more and more frequently.”