IoT Technology for Healthier Homes
Using IoT Technology for Healthy Homes
We all know the increasing role technology plays in our lives, from smart phones that put every type of entertainment at our fingertips, to connected factory solutions that report on equipment efficiency, send process telemetry and provide remote control of industrial devices. But what can this technology do for us in our day to day lives?
Internet of things (IoT) technology now enables us to do the most incredible range of things: you can unlock a rental car via an app, record your ride to work, the incline of your journey, the route you followed and the number of calories you burned. You can even remote pilot a drone and capture high definition aerial photographs. Science fiction has a habit of becoming science reality. And at a seemingly ever-increasing rate. So it’s no surprise that IoT is also enabling some revolutionary ways of working in health and research.
Health Technology
Health Technology has some truly incredible things on the horizon thanks to IoT. In the not too distance future, we will see remote medical consultations. We’ve already seen the first 5G long distance surgery, where doctors employ scalpel wielding robots to perform complex surgery in another part of the country. We will soon see IoT monitors that record and report back a patient’s heart rate and blood pressure. These readings will be logged continuously to identify trends. Through sharing big data across the country and the world, it will be possible to develop revolutionary new treatments. The power data can have to improve our health should not be underestimated.
When we talk about health issues for New Zealand, you simply can’t move past that fact that we have some of the unhealthiest housing in the world. We know that our rates of respiratory related issues are higher than they should be, and we know that this is due in large part to housing that is cold and damp.
Healthy Homes Research in New Zealand
The problem is now widely recognized thanks to the tireless research of groups such as He Kainga Oranga, whose work over the last 20 years has helped clarify the causal links between housing and ill health. The Healthy Homes Standards came into force in July 2019 to improve the quality of rental homes. But best of all, we have the Healthy Homes Initiative (HHI) in place to tackle the problem head on. Since 2013, this incredible initiative has been operating through 11 District Health Boards (DHBs) around New Zealand. A recent study of interim indicative health outcomes was carried out covering around 15,000 referrals through the HHI. Focusing just on the referred child, it showed an annual reduction of 1,533 hospitalisations, 9,443 fewer GP visits and saving the health care system over $10 million dollars per year, and over $30 million over 3 years. The value of this work is clear.
To solve any problem, you first have to be able to measure it. Using reliable, rich datasets allows us to firstly understand the scale and severity of the issue, and then continuously measure the impact of our remedial efforts to make the best use of the precious resources we have.
And that is where we come in. Monkeytronics is one of a range of like-minded groups in New Zealand, such as Tether. NIWA are also working in this space having developed a device they called PACMAN: which measures indoor air quality while presumably evading ghosts. Kainga Ora, New Zealand’s largest social housing landlord is currently planning to equip up to 2,000 homes with sensors that they hope will improve and enhance their homes performance, leading to warmer, dryer and healthier living conditions.
Making the complex beautifully simple
At Monkeytronics, we are committed to using technology to help solve the problem, thanks to a small, yet perfectly formed temperature and humidity sensor (Sensor Node). Sensor Node is about the size of a matchbox. But don’t let the size of it fool you - that little sensor has the power to make big changes for our country.
Every year, nearly 30,000 New Zealanders are admitted to hospital due to housing related conditions. Research has shown that temperate and humidity are key indicators of a healthy home and we developed Sensor Node in response. We have applied years of engineering experience to develop a clean, modular IoT platform that makes the complex appear beautifully simple.
By focusing on what is most important, our is technology is simple, robust and low cost. The technology sits on a dedicated IoT network, like the cellular networks we all use. Low cost means that high volumes can be purchased by research groups and social housing projects, helping us to fulfil our aim of solving challenging social and environmental issues using simple, high quality technology. Costs and conventional implementation barriers to using technology are also greatly reduced as it does not rely on a Wi-Fi connection and can operate for up to 5 years on 2 AAA alkaline batteries.
Sensor Node measures temperature and humidity every 15 minutes and reports the data directly to the cloud. The data can be viewed either using the Sensor Node mobile app or the web portal. The web portal offers a fuller set of features including advanced filtering and reporting, all of which integrate seamlessly with excel. Whether you are a homeowner, a tenant or a housing group with several hundred devices, there is a solution that tells you everything you need to know with just a few mouse clicks. The app can also be used to provide practical advice and reminders, for example when to open the windows or when a room is too cold.
Joint Effort
We are fortunate enough to be working with several research partners across the country, including He Kainga Oranga, Kainga Ora and several DHBs to dive deeper into the healthy homes issue and help us achieve our common goals. And we are hoping to join forces with many more in coming months. Our best chance of fighting back against unhealthy homes is together, so to the other companies in this space and the many amazing groups and initiatives all around New Zealand, you all rock!
Watch this space as home sensors become more common place in our everyday lives, helping us to manage the impact that our home environments have on us and our families. At Monkeytronics we firmly believe that technology should be easy to use, making life easier not more complicated. And when it comes to information about how safe our houses are, knowledge is power! Especially when it is used to protect the health of our families, whānau and children.
To find out more, go to www.monkeytronics.co.nz.