HOMELife Technology launches new products
Two new technology items have entered the Australian market for carers looking for simple but effective ways to check in on their loved ones remotely and in a non-invasive way.
Aged care technology distributor HOMELife Technology has exclusively introduced two new smart products developed in Canada onto the Australian market including stove top knobs and a speaker that can send personal messages.
Designed to be low cost and accessible, Smarturns are smart stove knobs that use a sensor to alert family members or carers if a stove has been left on and unattended for an extended period.
Typically, it is expensive to modify stove tops for safety and requires older people having to re-learn behaviours, HOMELife Technology director Paul Colley told Community Care Review at the Positive Ageing Summit in Adelaide in May. But, because the Smarturns can fit onto any gas and electric cooktop that has knobs, they are simple to install and don’t require someone to re-learn how to use their stove.
“You literally just pull the old knobs off, you take the old knobs off, you put the new knobs on, you plug in the hub, and you mount the motion sensor somewhere in the kitchen, and that’s it; it’s installed,” said Mr Colley.
If the stove is unattended for longer than 10 minutes, the hub will send out an alert reminding the user to check the stove – with the option of remote alerts being sent to carers if the hub is connected to internet.
“As a carer for my mum, for example, I’ll get a notification on my phone,” said Mr Colley, “I could also have a text pushed to a neighbour, for example, and they could pop in and check that everything’s okay, or I can call mum and see if she’s left the stove on.”
With the associated app, it is also possible to see what position the knobs are in, meaning carers can check if something is just simmering and doesn’t necessarily pose a risk.
The kitchen motion sensor also allows carers to check whether anyone has been passing through the kitchen, providing an opportunity to see if the resident is mobile and not requiring help from elsewhere in the home, while the app shows the cooking history.
“If they haven’t been in the kitchen all day, then someone might want to check on them, for example,” he told CCR, or if they haven’t used the stove all week it might be a sign they are not eating enough.
Mr Colley has also introduced the smart reminder speaker Tochie to the Australian market, which he told CCR pairs well with the Smarturns as it can send gentle reminders via personalised voice messages from people the user trusts, rather than robotic alerts or beeps.
“It’s not like Alexa or anything like that that’s listening to you all the time,” Mr Colley told CCR. “There’s no microphones in it – it’s just about gentle reminders being pushed out to the family.”
Tochie can send instant or scheduled messages, weekly reminders or multiple daily check-ins such as reminding someone that they should drink some water, suggest they take the dog for a walk or even just to say a quick goodnight.
Once the message is received, there is an option for those who receive it to tap twice on the speaker, which will send confirmation the message has been received, but Mr Colley acknowledged this option will not be suitable for everyone or every message.
Neither products require a subscription, just one-off payments for the product and app.
Positive Ageing Summit is an initiative of Australian Ageing Agenda and Community Care Review – find out more on the Positive Ageing Summit 2025 website
