The Smart Home of the Future: Nurse or Nudge?

Badger speaks with Diane Cook, a researcher at Washington State University who recently published an article in the journal Science, on the promise of "smart homes" that aren't simply wired or connected, but that can learn about your behaviors and adapt to them.

As Badger explains, "Cook has been focusing on two potential applications for this kind of in-home "ambient intelligence" that could dramatically benefit society. Smart homes could help control energy usage. But they could also enable an aging population to live in their own homes longer."

While such homes may valuable in helping your grandmother to live alone longer by reminding her to take medication, or detecting signs of dementia, one could imagine such a home also acting like your grandmother and asking whether you might not need an extra sweater as you leave the house on a blustery day.