SmartHome Highlights

This updated was provided by SmartHomes Manager Sterling Wind to Imagine!’s Board of Directors in late May. We’d thought we share it with our blog readers as well. Enjoy!

Here are a few SmartHomes project highlights from this last quarter!

In addition to our regularly scheduled public tours, the SmartHomes team continues to provide additional tours to small groups from Colorado state, county, and municipal governmental officials, advocacy groups, and service provider organizations representing aging and elder care, cognitive and physical disabilities care, and special education groups across Colorado and the United States.

Recent special guests touring the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome and the Charles Family SmartHome have included a parents group with the Community Life Project (who have school age children who are not eligible for State funded services through Imagine!, but have benefited as participants in Imagine!’s Autism Spectrum Disorder program). Additionally engineers with PLEXUS Engineering Solutions in Louisville toured to learn about our project, as they are interested in donating company time and talent to assist our SmartHomes project. Other recent “tourists” include several individuals who are considering joining the Imagine! Foundation Board, colleagues from Albany, New York, and family members who have young children who are currently being served by Imagine!, and are interested in how SmartSupports might be used to support their loved one at home, at school, and in the community.

Interest in the Imagine! SmartHomes project continues to grow, as members of the Imagine! SmartHomes team continue to be invited to speak at conferences, meetings, and to consult with providers from around the United States. Our team is currently engaged in consultation services with providers in Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minnesota, Long Island, New York, and Bangor, Maine. You can learn about presentations associated with the Imagine!’s SmartHomes project by clicking here. 

Consumers at the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome and the Charles Family SmartHome are connecting with their family, friends, and members of their support team via an accessible email system (Endeavor Email). SmartHome consumers are currently using a newly developed accessible Facebook application with great excitement as they further connect with family, friends, and co-workers. These tools have been developed by one of our main technology partners, AbleLink Technologies in Colorado Springs, and this partnership continues to evolve thanks to the input from Imagine! consumers and staff members. SmartHomes consumers are sharing their experiences through a variety of blogs: I’d recommend that you check out my current favorite, Imagine! Voices.

Now that our SmartHomes have been in operation for several years, our team is focusing some of our attention on how we can best transition into the next phase of the project to demonstrate how technology and SmartSupports can be implemented in typical residential settings, out in the community, and at work to create a more sustainable long-term care service delivery system.