Reshaping living spaces with smart technologies for home care. A case study analysis

Technological innovation and digitalization represent new challenges that encourage the reconfiguration of services and spaces dedicated to home care. In this context, it becomes relevant to identify tools and methods for adapting existing homes through the integration of spatial solutions and smart devices to facilitate home care activities and better meet the needs of the care receivers. The proposed study aims to identify technical solutions and provide design indications for home adaptation considering user-space-devices interaction. The adopted methodology involved selecting and analyzing case studies of smart homes through the definition of a template aimed at providing a key to understanding and systematizing the detected technical solutions within summary sheets. These solutions were organized according to six classes of requirements: safety, comfort, usability, appearance, management, and integrability. The results will contribute to operational guidelines and strategies to support designers in characterizing home spaces that can effectively integrate smart technologies, facilitating decision-making in the adaptation of homes for smart home care.