Innovative technologies to help create homes that look after their occupants

Researchers and thinkers from academia and industry will present their ideas for how smart homes can make people healthier and happier and how individuals can maintain privacy and security while providing information to smart systems. 

Areas being considered include: 

• How technology in homes can reduce the burden on local authorities of providing social care 

• How real people living their lives with long term health conditions can inform the development of new treatments as part of their day-to-day lives 

• How smart homes can connect with individual’s health monitoring devices to maximise wellbeing 

The three events are all free to attend: 

• 10.45 am-2.45 pm, Tuesday 2 November, Research and Innovation in Technologies for Home Wellbeing, a series of presentations and talks, plus the opportunity to meet innovators and try out cutting edge technological solutions, open to the general public, software and tech industries, policymakers, local authorities, research councils and academics. 

• 3.30-5.30pm, Tuesday 2 November, Future Technologies for Home Wellbeing, a discussion about progress and considerations and the chance to get your hands on the latest technological developments, open to the general public software and tech industries, policymakers, local authorities, research councils and academics. 

• 6-7 pm, Friday 12 November, Envisioning Future Homes for Wellbeing, an online opportunity to help shape the future of homes through small discussion sessions at which anyone may talk, with key topics emerging recorded as a beautiful digital visual by a graphic artist and sent to all attendees, open to the general public. 

The two events on Tuesday 2 November take place at the 6G Innovation Centre at the University of Surrey and offer attendees the chance to talk to researchers from the University of Surrey and representatives from the third sector and industry. 

Dr Emily Corrigan-Kavanagh, Research Fellow in Design Research at the University of Surrey, said: 

“New technologies should be a revolutionary force for good, and the possibilities that AI in particular offers to help and support us, to contribute positively to our physical and mental wellbeing, are immeasurable. It’s such an exciting area. But technological developments must be sustainable, and they must be accompanied by ethics and responsibility. The University of Surrey has thirty years of experience researching new AI technologies, so we’re leading important discussions about important insights from this work at our November events, gathering people from many disciplines and many backgrounds to contribute to lively, interactive discussions.” 

Note to editors 

The event showcases a variety of activities at the University of Surrey, especially at the Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing (number one in Computer Vision research in the UK) and the newly established  Surrey Institute for People-Centred AI, a pan-university Institute that brings together world-leading AI and domain expertise across the different disciplines to realise and shape AI for the public good.