THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 5, 1995 TAG: 9502030128
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 116 lines
FROM THE OUTSIDE, the low, long whitewashed buildings, set into a Maryland hillside 10 miles north of Baltimore, seem timeless in their simplicity.
A historic attraction, perhaps. Or a restored bed-and-breakfast.
Until you get to the glass-paned front door, which slides soundlessly open at the touch of a button. Or enter the wide foyer, in which overhead lights miraculously turn on without the touch of a switch. Or turn left, into the entertainment room, and encounter the oversized, six-button remote control, which looks like a child's plaything, but which is really the brains to this remarkable house.
Welcome to Future Home.
It is a home in which a person could grow old, or be confined to a wheelchair, and still live independently. Where your eyesight and your hearing don't have to be perfect, where the home is designed to accommodate you, instead of you changing your life and needs to accommodate it.
``It is the first attempt in this country to build a house that someone could live in through all stages of their life,'' said Jeffrey Jerome, director of Volunteers for Medical Engineering, the non-profit Baltimore company that developed and installed most of the electronic devices in the home.
As the Baby Boomers get older - the first boomers turn 50 next year - builders are beginning to think about the country's aging population, building in-law suites and first-floor master bedrooms into more of their models.
They are realizing that most people prefer to age in place. A recent study by the American Association of Retired Persons showed that 85 percent of older people want to stay in their homes and never move.
The skeleton of Future Home was actually built 136 years ago as a tavern and toll house called Smith Tavern. Nine years ago, its resident curator, David Ward, himself a quadriplegic, rescued it from demolition and convinced the state to add it to its inventory of historic sites. Then he started looking for the funding he'd need to turn the house into a showcase for the technology that would let people live independently.
``We want to make people aware of what we can do,'' Jerome said. ``That there are different ways to do things. This is a thought stimulator to get people to think.''
While the home's overall physical renovation cost more than $400,000, the technology - more than any one person might need, says Jerome - cost $65,000. Most of the labor and electronics were donated.
The home's heart - and its most expensive item - is a $5,000 computer system. But because older people are often not familiar with computers, Jerome linked it to television sets throughout the house and provided an oversized, simplified remote control that even arthritic hands could operate.
Using a click-and-point menu system, the computer, via the television screen, can be programmed to turn off and on lights throughout the house; open or close windows; and check security. For someone who doesn't hear well, it makes the lights blink when the phone or doorbell rings.
Forget to take your medications? The computer reminds you, in a frosty, toneless voice heard via the speakers in each room.
Going out? The computer asks where you're going and when you'll be back. If, for instance, someone has Alzheimer's disease and is prone to wandering, the computer will dial an emergency phone number if the answers aren't appropriate or if the person doesn't return within the allotted time.
Say you've fallen or fainted. If the computer doesn't sense any movement in the house, and it's not the time for sleeping and you haven't gone out, it will ask: ``Are you safe?'' If there's no answer, it will dial the emergency number.
``This will give people enough confidence to live by themselves so they're not scared,'' Jerome said.
Many of the systems respond to voice commands. Too cold? Say, ``I'm cold,'' and the computer will turn up the heat.
But there is more to this home than just fancy computer programming. There is thought.
For elderly people whose hands are crippled with arthritis and who can't turn on a water faucet, pushing an oversized button starts the water flowing. A one-unit appliance from Westinghouse washes and dries your clothes, without bending, loading and unloading.
The toilet is designed like a bidet, with a stream of warm water to wash you off, then a blast of warm air to dry you. No more fumbling for the toilet paper.
The kitchen, with its Southwestern motif and glassed, gas-burning fireplace, functions for someone confined to a wheelchair, as well as those who have no mobility problems.
The counters raise and lower with the flick of a switch; cabinets slide down the wall for easy access; a kitchen computer pad turns on the ceiling fan and gas fire or even the water. To reduce the risks of burns, a plastic, insulated coffee pot is used instead of glass, a good example of what Jerome calls ``universal design'' - universally helpful for physically challenged and healthy people.
Upstairs is a small in-law suite, perfect for a caregiver, as well as an office and computer room.
But for all the technological achievements in this house, there are many things lacking, Jerome noted. The refrigerator, for instance, is difficult for someone with arthritis to open. The stove's controls are in the rear, making them hard to reach from a wheelchair.
``We want to get the word out that manufacturers need to make better products,'' Jerome said. MEMO: Future Home is available for public tours by appointment. For more
information about Volunteers for Medical Engineering, call (410)
243-7495. ILLUSTRATION: JANET SHAUGHNESSY/Staff illustrations
SOURCE: Popular Science
VME COLOR PHOTOS
Kara Stewart gets food from the motorized cabinets, which lower to
wheelchair height.
Jeffrey Jerome talks to the computer system that is the brains for
the house.
by CNB