Jointly developed by students from the Engineering Discipline and Health & Life Sciences Discipline, the ‘i+Home’ device is an IoT-based smart home system aimed at reducing household accidents or incidents such as gas leakages, fires, shortness of breath, and trips and falls for elderly people living alone.

Led by the IoT Innovation and Technology Centre, this project is a shining example of multidisciplinary learning. Engineering students were responsible for the technical aspects, including hardware and software design, cloud platforms and mobile app development, while Health & Life Sciences students provided design recommendations based on their knowledge of gerontology. The collaborative project won the Silver Award of Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) Gerontech Competition in the“Tertiary Student Category”.

The system uses a range of sensors installed in the bathroom, kitchen and living room of an i+Home user to monitor environmental data such as temperature, humidity and air quality, and other factors such as human movement and door status. The device sends alerts depending on the changes in these environmental data. For example, if the sensors detect that the stove has been left on or the main entrance door has been left open, an alarm will sound and alerts will be sent to the elderly resident and their caregivers through the app as instant messages.

To protect elderly users from viral infections, i+Home is also integrated with a U-Trap Refill Automator, a device devised by IVE Engineering students to detect the water level inside the U-Trap and automatically top up the water level when needed.

The project demonstrates the innovative potential of VTC STEM students in deploying their professional knowledge to improve human lives.