Tag: home automation

8. Ryan Herd

~ Henrik de Gyor ~ Leave a comment

Dr. Debi Lynes interviews Ryan Herd of Caregiver Smart Solutions about using sensors for any stage in life on Aging in Place Podcast

(duration: 33 minutes)

Ryan Herd

 

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Caregiver Smart Solutions

CES Showstopper award winner

Plastic shot cups

Takeaways

It’s all about sensors.

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Lynes on Design

Transcript

Debi Lynes:                   00:03                Hi and welcome to aging in place for every stage in life. What if you could visit or have a home that would accommodate anyone at any age, any physical ability at any time? How cool would that be? That’s what we’re doing here at aging in place. Why me? Because I’m a doctor of psychology and I specialize in physical spaces in Health and wellness. Also, I love designing with intent at any age. Why now? Because we the baby boomers want to age in place gracefully and we want our families around us as much as we can. And why you the audience? Because we want you to experience what it’s like to have a home that’s safe, aesthetically pleasing, and that you can live in at any age with any ability at any time. I’d like to introduce you now to Aging in Place Podcast for every stage in life.

Debi Lynes:                  01:03                Hi, I’m Dr. Debi Lynes and welcome to the Aging in Place Podcast. I am here today with Ryan Herd and I’m very excited to have you today straight from the CES conference in Las Vegas. Ryan, I’m thrilled to be able to talk with you and I’d like to learn a little bit about your background, number one, number two about the CES conference and number three, I think it congratulations are in order.

Ryan Herd:                    01:31                Hey Dr. Debi. Well, thank you for having us on. I really appreciate it. So, let’s start by unpacking those questions. Who am I? I’m actually Ryan Herd. I’m known as the smart guy. I’ve been in smart tech and IOT for 29 years. I literally wrote the book on it called Join the Smart Home Revolution and I’ve been in the tech industry for all my life. I’m a techie. I kind of love this stuff.

Debi Lynes:                   01:57                Did you get into that? How did you get into that area of being known as? I like it. I’m known as the smart guy.

Ryan Herd:                    02:03                Yeah, Ryan Herd the smart guy because I wrote the book. So I wrote the book called Join the Smart Home Revolution and it was really to fix or answer that fundamental question, which is what is smart home and how can it help me as a human? You know, the one issue with the technology industry is where you make a lot of widgets and gadgets, but how can I actually help me as a human? So I started to answer that question and because of that I’ve also worked with some of the top companies like Sony and really group would just call a banker and home advisor. I helped them start up their smart home division. So yeah. And I also had a integration firm called the one sound choice. And what we did is smart technology for high net worth, high profile individuals all over the US.

Debi Lynes:                   02:50                And you know, I want to get right into it. I still want to go back and talk a little bit about your kids and your life because it’s pretty fascinating. You have, it sounds like you have a nice self-care and a nice balanced life. But to get right to the point, one of the things that intrigued me when I first talked to you, and because I’m older and I’m very, yeah, there you go. A grandmother of nine and most 10. I’m really curious when it comes to aging in place and the home. The more research I do and the more data I have gathered, the more I realize that a lot of the products that are for aging adults if you will, or people who have special needs acute illnesses aren’t really user-friendly. And it was so fun for me to talk to you because that was the first thing out of your mouth is oftentimes people who manufacturer these things don’t really think in terms of universal designer humans.

Ryan Herd:                    03:47                That’s the big problem. And, and I don’t mean to beat up on anybody. Again, I’m a techie. I love technology. I just got back from CES and that’s the Superbowl of technology. Now with that said, I’ve been spending a lot of time out in Silicon Valley as well as over here in New York and NGIT and there’s a lot of really smart people. I mean they are doing amazing things and they’re building and designing things that are going to be incredible for when I get older. Where they lack is they don’t understand the consumer or the person that’s going to use it. Today. For example, when we’re talking about let’s say the greatest generation people that are approaching a hundred years old, you know, 19, 28 and older is when they were born. You know, they’re technologically adverse. It’s all about, they don’t want to be spied on. It’s their belief system is, you know, we are going to meet somebody, we’re going to get married, we’re going to buy a house, we’re going to have kids. We’re going to live in that house. We’re going to die in that house. And we’re never ever, ever going to be a burden to anybody else. So that’s what we do see, is there’s people that are trying to just take all these smart home gadgets and put it in mom’s house, but mom doesn’t need a smart lock. She doesn’t need a smart thermostat. She doesn’t need a alarm. What she needs is to know that somebody’s got their back.

Debi Lynes:                   05:05                And you know that. It’s really funny because my mom and dad moved in three years ago. We lost my mom, but my dad’s 91 92 and it’s exactly what you say is true. They want their life to be the same as it always has been, but they have so many more restrictions now. And I also think for my dad, at least, he doesn’t want to feel special. He doesn’t want to feel like he’s a burden on anyone.

Ryan Herd:                    05:31                Right, right.

Debi Lynes:                   05:31                He wants to be as independent as he can. So what does that mean in terms of technology?

Ryan Herd:                    05:40                Well, independence, you said it right. So let’s think about it. Remember when you got your first car and you were independent for the first time you left home, this was the first time you’re able to be on your own. Nobody was next to you. You know, we’ve been craving it. We finally got it. Now you’re not going to give that up, right? You want your independence for as long as possible. And that’s why what we’ve seen is those that are 65 and older, more than 85% of them want to live at home alone and independent. So the question is how do we as caregivers, how do we enable that? How do we give them the ability to be independent, live at home, and yet reduce our stress. Because being a caregiver, it’s, it’s stressful, it’s time-consuming and it’s isolating.

Debi Lynes:                   06:24                Yes it is.

Ryan Herd:                    06:26                So we’ve done, the new company I have called Caregiver Smart Solutions is just that. We’re answering that fundamental question, which is how are they doing, right? We’re enabling your loved one to live home longer while reducing your stress because as I said before, being a caregiver, it’s stressful, time-consuming and isolating. So let me tell you what we’re not, we’re not a camera, right?

Debi Lynes:                   06:49                Okay.

Ryan Herd:                    06:49                Because cameras are invasive. You don’t want a camera in your home. I don’t want it in my home.

Debi Lynes:                   06:53                My dad, Well what’s funny about that is my dad has flat out refused it, don’t be spying on me. not spying. I just want to make sure if you’re falling or you’re slipped or you can’t do this or that, that you’re covered.

Ryan Herd:                    07:04                Exactly. That’s actually the first thing I did when my father had cancer. I put a camera in and he put a dish towel right over it. So that wasn’t gonna work. So the second thing that we’re not, we’re not trying to change your loved one’s habit. I dunno. Have you ever tried to change the habit of an 80-year-old?

Debi Lynes:                   07:21                Yeah it’s not pretty.

Ryan Herd:                    07:23                I can’t even change my own habits, right? So that’s not going to happen. Number three, we’re not aware of it because the reality is, is they’re not wearing them. They’re not charging them up. And you have to understand, as I said before, there’s a psychological aspect. And what I mean by that is it’s like me going to my father Dad, do me a favor. I need you to wear this. And if something happens, you gotta push the button. Now here’s where psychology comes in. The reality is, is I’m working around, I’m dealing with my kids. I’m dealing with this. A video call. I have other meetings I have to take. I’m not thinking about end of life. 93-year-old grandma. You know what she is and now we’re taking this device and saying, if you have a problem, push the button. And she’s looking at that as the button of death. And you have to understand they don’t want that and we want to enable them, but we don’t want to bring that kind of stuff up. So how can we be proactive? And this is what we are caregiver’s smart solutions. We take tiny non-evasive sensors and we place them discretely around the home and what the sensors are monitoring is your loved ones’ habit because your habit is an indicator of your health. For example, if mom’s habit is that she gets up twice a night to go to the bathroom fine green check Mark. That’s what she always does. But if all of a sudden she starts getting up five times a night, three nights in a row, that’s definitely an issue. That’s something you want to know. And it could be a urinary tract infection. No, that’s just a little bit of what we do and we do so much more.

Debi Lynes:                   08:56                Talk to me a little bit about a, what is sensor? How does the sensor work? It Does it go in the corner of the room? Does it go in different rooms? What am I actually monitoring movement sound?

Ryan Herd:                    09:06                So there’s a couple of things that our sensors are doing in the baseline. We’re measuring movement, we’re measuring things like the refrigerator, we’re measuring the medicine cabinet, we’re measuring the time it takes mom to walk down the stairs. We’re measuring quality. How long has mom been sleeping? It’s really important to get, let’s say five to eight hours of sleep.

Debi Lynes:                   09:27                Correct.

Ryan Herd:                    09:27                She’s getting up once an hour, every single hour. That could be an issue now.

Debi Lynes:                   09:32                Was an issue for cognitive decline.

Ryan Herd:                    09:33                It’s an issue for that. And, and you know what? We’re facilitating the insights through the use of an app. You can see exactly what’s going on. And let’s say it’s that. And you see mom, your loved one got up once an hour for four hours straight. So now when you talk to mom, you can say, Hey, how’s everything doing? And what is she going to say? It’s fine. But now you can say, I saw that you were up a lot last night and it, you know, it might’ve just been a bad burrito. I don’t know.

Debi Lynes:                   10:01                How does it, how does it actually track? We’ve got about a minute in this segment. So how does it actually document and track? Is it actually formulating data? Is it a, is it journaling for me? Is it sending me a note or an email?

Ryan Herd:                    10:18                So what we’re doing from the fancy side is we’ve got a bunch of noninvasive sensors mounted throughout the house and what happens is we’re using something called machine learning. Think of that as a record button, so two to three we’re recording the habits, so now we have a baseline, we know how your loved one is doing, and then from there we add something called AI fancy technology and what AI is looking for is they’re looking for those things that are out of the ordinary. For example, if mom’s sleeping later or if mom is taking longer to get down the stairs or if mom is not drinking, making her coffee. All of these things are outside of what normal is.

Debi Lynes:                   11:00                All right, hold that thought. We’re going to take a quick, quick, quick break and I’m going to come right back and get into it again. We’re talking with Ryan Herd and I’m really excited. We’re talking about motion sensors. Stay with us. We’ll be right back.

Henrik de Gyor:             11:12                For more podcasts, episodes, links, information and media inquiries. Please visit our website at aginginplacepodcast.com as we transitioned through life with the comfort and ease you deserve, discover how you can create a home that will adapt to you as you journey through life and the changes it will bring. Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as our host Debi Lynes and her expert guests discuss relevant topics to creating a home for all decades in life. Don’t miss our weekly episodes of aging in place. Podcast for every stage in life.

Debi Lynes:                   11:49                We are back here on aging and place. We’re talking with Ryan Herd, talking about motion sensors. More importantly, we’re talking about universal design. We’re talking about aging in place for absolutely every stage in life and I’ll tell you what’s interesting about this is although we’re talking about older adults at this point in time, one of the reasons I wanted to do the podcast, Ryan, is because it’s really something that’s important for families or folks at any age. I know my daughter has two young kids. And when I think about her having motion detectors, I think, or the sensors as you’re talking about, I think it would be an amazing opportunity.

Ryan Herd:                    12:29                And it’s interesting because as your daughter is right, so I’m 48, I’ve got three young boys and your daughter has, and they call us the sandwich generation, meaning, you know, we have our kids that we’re taking care of as well as we have our aging adults that were also worried and concerned about. So we’re sandwich tray in the middle of that.

Debi Lynes:                   12:47                It’s so very true. Being a psychologist, I do a lot with the sandwich generation. I started out with adolescent and now I’ve ended up with the geriatrics and I think we’re sitting right in the middle of them. So let’s go back and talk about these sensors and as far as the artificial intelligence piece of that, how this works again.

Ryan Herd:                    13:06                So the easiest way to explain it is, as I said, so we have two main things that go on. We’re using machine learning and again, think of that as the record button. So that’s going to record the habits over about two weeks’ time. And then we’re going to get a baseline. So for example, we’ll be able to know that mom is vacuuming every Wednesday because everyone says she’s going in and out of the rooms and we can see them [with sensors, not cameras]. Once we get that baseline, then we can add AI or artificial intelligence on top of that. So for example, let’s say, let’s say we’re talking about false. So envision a Cape Cod. So you have a two-floor house, a mom’s upstairs, she gets up in the morning, she goes to the bathroom. Now these are going to be triggering our sensors and she comes out of the bathroom, she goes walking down the hallway, triggers a sensor on the top of the hallway. We know that she takes about three and a half minutes to walk down the stairs. She’s going to trigger the sensor at the bottom of the stairs. Then she’s going to walk into the living room because that’s the next room. And then it goes into, she’s going to trigger that. Now it’s going to know what her typical timeframe is. How long it takes to get down those stairs. Now another scenario, let’s say she got up, she went to the bathroom, she got to the top of the stairs and now all of a sudden it’s four minutes, four and a half minutes, five minutes. And she hasn’t triggered this. The sensor on the bottom of the stairs where his mom, she’s probably laying in the middle of the stairs.

Debi Lynes:                   14:35                Or just we going to say she’s gotten dizzy. She’s fallen. Yes.

Ryan Herd:                    14:38                You take another scenario, she triggers a sensor at the top of the stairs but then triggers a sensor at the bottom of the stairs 30 seconds later and does not trigger the next sensor, which is living room. What happened? Mom probably rolled down the stairs. That’s the kind of power that we’re talking about [awareness] and that’s just on one thing. So let’s take it even farther. Let’s talk about dehydration. So technically the closed loop would be things like, I see mom open up the refrigerator. I see mom moving around. I see mom making coffee through the coffee pot and I see mom going to the bathroom [all with sensors, not cameras]. Well, that’s what you expect to happen.

Debi Lynes:                   15:13                Correct.

Ryan Herd:                    15:13                I’m going into the fridge, walking around, not going to the bathroom and not making coffee. That could because for concern over several days because that could mean that she’s dehydrated. Dehydration that precursor to a fall. And guess what? We don’t want our aging loved ones to fall. That’s the power of what we’re doing.

Debi Lynes:                   15:35                So how does this work from a practical point of view? Are you in the actual production? How does someone get this? What would be a fee schedule? It just makes so much sense.

Ryan Herd:                    15:49                So we have three different kits. I don’t know if you can see it.   

Debi Lynes:                   15:54                There you go.

Ryan Herd:                    15:54                At Caregiver Smart Solutions, what we do to make it easy for everybody is we made three different kits. We have the Basic kit, Deluxe kit, and Deluxe plus. Obviously, they can be found on our website which is caregiversmartsolutions.com. You can give us a call at (888) 585-5022. Now the easiest way to explain it is think of the basic kit. The scenario is we just got out of holiday, right? We had Thanksgiving, we had new year’s. So let’s say you saw grandma and this was the first time that you realize that grandma, you know she, she’s just not as snappy as she used to be and I’m not saying anything’s wrong with her, I’m just saying that.

Debi Lynes:                   16:34                No, no, no okay.

Ryan Herd:                    16:34                The first time that your concern you get the basic kit. All I want to know is the basics. Is she moving around? Is she eating, is she taking her meds and is she going to the bathroom? Just the basics. From there, we can go all the way to the deluxe plus kit, which then we’re monitoring obviously much more, many more things like doors. We’re also monitoring things like TV because if mom’s sitting in front of the TV for five and six hours, that’s like me saying, I need you to get up and run around the block. They shouldn’t be sedentary for that long. The coffee pot or tea kettle, we’re measuring sleep quality as well as fall detection, so on that, that is usually for somebody that maybe there’s been an event, maybe mom has already fallen or maybe you’re really concerned about your loved one. Maybe she’s got a bit of dementia.

Debi Lynes:                   17:28                Dementia.

Ryan Herd:                    17:28                What’s the most important thing when we’re talking about dementia? We’re talking about a did the door open up and b that you walk out of that door because that is the most important thing. Those are the kind of things you want to know.

Debi Lynes:                   17:43                Well, it’s really interesting to me because as a certified aging in place specialist of the things I think about all the time are when cost is no object. That’s one thing. Okay, I can hire full-time help, I can do this, I can do that. But I think for many of us within the sandwich generation, we don’t necessarily near-live near our loved ones. And I think that, you know, if there have been such a void in American for any kind of, I guess fixed in the middle, if you will.

Ryan Herd:                    18:14                Right.

Debi Lynes:                   18:14                And, and more importantly home-health and some of those things are almost cost-prohibitive. How do you all play with others in this area, if you will?

Ryan Herd:                    18:31                So think of us as a, we’re complimentary and we’re proactive. So every, all the technology in the market right now is reactive. It’s, I’ve fallen, I can’t get up. If something happens, push a button and we’re all waiting for impending doom.

Debi Lynes:                   18:44                Correct.

Ryan Herd:                    18:44                How about earlier? So we can start answering that question. As I said before, how are they doing now when we’re talking about in-home care, the least expensive that you can get into it for is twice a week, four hours a day, and that’s only covering eight hours at 25 bucks an hour. And that’s about $10,400 a year. It’s a lot of money. Now the problem is is there’s 168 hours in a week. So what happens that on 160 hours, what would the system like ours? You’re still getting all of the basic questions that you have answered and it could be as simple as how many times is mom going to the bathroom? How many times is she opening up the medicine cabinet at the refrigerator? Is she moving around? Those kinds of things. We’re also complimentary regardless of where mom is living. And what I mean by that is maybe it’s a house, maybe it’s a townhouse, a condo, maybe she’s in independent living, maybe she’s in assisted living because you have to remember in assisted living, if we have the opportunity to put our loved ones in an assisted living place and that’s a beautiful place, but their business model is that they are really an apartment building with a social aspect, right? They do have nurses on staff, but the responsibility is not to come in and check on mom all the time. Once mom goes into her apartment, once that door is closed, there’s now a black hole. So we facilitate you knowing how mom’s doing as well as the nurses’ aid station to know what’s going on.

Debi Lynes:                   20:15                One of the things that’s interesting psychologically is I know from my dad at least and for a lot of folks that I know and who have expressed concern with home health or bringing people in is they don’t want strangers in their home. I think, you know, for me it’s 60, I could care less bring him in. You know, somebody is helping me, I’m all over it. But I, but I understand that that’s a huge issue. And so this alleviates all of that. And I think the feeling of independence and autonomy is amazing. Do these run 24 hours?

Ryan Herd:                    20:48                They run 24 three 65 so 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. They’re always on. You can take a look at the app and see exactly how mom’s doing and if something’s a miss, you will know. So if something bad happens, we’re going to send that notification to you. So this way you can call up mom or we’re just going to facilitate that conversation. So here’s another scenario. Let’s say you have an in homemade, let’s call her. Sally is going over to mom’s house and then all of a sudden Sally calls you and says, you know what? I think we need more time in the house because I don’t think mom is eating as much cause she looks like she’s losing weight.

Debi Lynes:                   21:25                Got it.

Ryan Herd:                    21:25                Now you can live well back to our system and see exactly over time, what’s her average, how many times does she open up that refrigerator and if you see it trending down now you know that Sally is, you know, she’s honest. She’s telling the truth. I trust her. She’s absolutely correct. So it’s backing up with the in-home.

Debi Lynes:                   21:42                Well, it’s a check and balance. It makes so much sense. Ryan, we’re going to take another quick break and come right back. Once again, we’re talking to Ryan Herd. We’re talking about Caregiver Smart Solutions because he’s the smart guy, so stay with us. We’ll be right back.

Debi Lynes:                   21:57                Hi, I’m Dr. Debi Lynes design elements are psychologically and physically supportive and conducive to health and wellness. To learn more about what Lynes on Design can do for you for more information on certified aging in place, and facilitative and supportive design, look for lynesondesign.com. That’s L-Y-N-E-S on design dot com.

Debi Lynes:                   22:23                We are back here on aging in place. Once again, we’re with Ryan Herd and we’re talking about Caregiver Smart Solutions, and they are smart. Okay. The natural segue and the natural question is this, how in the world and why in the world, even though I know you’re the smart guy and you’re a techie, I mean, I think this whole demographic and this aging in place phenomenon, I can say this the baby boomers are aging. We’ve got a great transfer of wealth. We’ve got a lot of folks and you and I and me more than you are in this sandwich generation. Can you share a little bit about how you did get into it and then let’s talk about the CES Las Vegas conference and you winning.

Ryan Herd:                    23:07                Sure. So my background, as I said before, I’m known as Ryan Herd the smart guy and I’d been in technology for 29 years and I literally wrote the book on smart technology called Join the Smart Home Revolution. So everything is great. And then my father got cancer not once, but twice now. He’s tough as nails, but being his caregiver, I’m concerned, you know, and this is the first time that I’m really concerned on how he’s doing. So being the smart guy, I figured I could find something, buy it, put it in and everything would be fine. And then I realized that in this industry, technology stopped in 1990 literally when we talk assisted living facilities, they still have pull strings and they think that’s so leveraging my background, a smart technology, I started to attack this problem and saying, you know, why can’t I look at an app? Why is it that it’s 2020 and I still need a call, a text, or to stop by to see how my loved one’s doing. There should be the ability to have an app that can answer my fun amount of questions, which is how are they doing? You know, are they moving around? Are they eating, are they sleeping? Are they sitting in front of the TV? And then, of course, there’s the fault. So.

Debi Lynes:                   24:16                Brilliant.

Ryan Herd:                    24:16                That’s how I got into it and I figured I can fix this problem.

Debi Lynes:                   24:20                So what happens now? You were the number one, you won the CES conference. Talk to us a little bit about how that happened after talking with you, it makes sense.

Ryan Herd:                    24:31                Exciting.

Debi Lynes:                   24:31                But what were some of the criteria that you think you more than check the boxes on that you really had?

Ryan Herd:                    24:36                So we entered what’s called the Showstoppers and we first were named prior of CES, we were named one of the top 10 hottest startup at CES.

Debi Lynes:                   24:49                Which is how I heard about you.

Ryan Herd:                    24:52                Oh really?

Debi Lynes:                   24:52                Yes! That’s how I heard about you. I was just doing a little research and I was like… him.

Ryan Herd:                    24:57                I got to talk to this one.

Debi Lynes:                   24:58                And you know.

Ryan Herd:                    24:58                And we went from there and then we had to give another pitch. All 10 companies do. And I got to tell you, there was some stiff competition. There was a great company that was bringing robots. There was another company that was talking about water usage. And it was actually fascinating where it would go on the head in the shower and literally when you turn on, the water would go on. But if it didn’t sense anybody underneath it, it would go on like 50%. And then when you were under it or going, it was amazing. Another company that was doing retrofittable smart dials for stove, you know how all of our stoves are dumb. Or you can put this smart knob on and then through an app you can tell if it’s on, if it’s off all these things. So I, while I had competition, but at the end of the day, as luck would have it, we did incredible and we ended up winning. So we are named the hottest startup at CES. And then on top of that, the next morning we found out that we’ve won Techlicious Top Pick at CES. So we won back to back number ones, which were absolutely fabulous. They really.

Debi Lynes:                   26:08                Alright, so here’s the real question now what?

Ryan Herd:                    26:12                Now what? Well, we are in the background talking with a lot of the nationwide retailers. We are also thinking about moving into other countries because what we found out, we really knew this, but.

Debi Lynes:                   26:26                It’s ubiquitous.

Ryan Herd:                    26:28                Yeah. You know, with a product like this, the reality is I don’t care. I don’t care what your race, religion, creed for you live. Everybody has somebody that they love and care about and they want to make sure that they’re okay. And we’re talking about the US we’ve, we’ve actually got about a hundred million people that are 65 and older and 10,000 people a day turn 65. Now when you look at worldwide population, Japan actually has the most amount of old people with the least amount of young people taking care of them. So that’s a huge problem in Japan. Yeah. So it is amazing. So you’re going to see some amazing things from us. You know, it’s our destiny to fix this problem and really I want to, I want to reduce as much stress as I can because I am going through this. I get it. I know what it’s like and we just want to help people out.

Debi Lynes:                   27:21                It’s a very practical approach. I think that’s what is intriguing to me is that you’ve really taken, again, the universal design principles of that is a pretty simple application when you think about it, but it really covers so many aspects of safety in the home. Are there specific places that you put these sensors?

Ryan Herd:                    27:47                So we do have videos that teach you how to do it and basically it’s…

Debi Lynes:                   27:50                Are there Youtube videos?

Ryan Herd:                    27:50                Of course, peel and stick them on the wall. You know, we want to respect our loved ones, architectural details, so we want it to be as non-intrusive as possible. With that said, don’t put it behind a door, behind a plant. We can help you with that.

Debi Lynes:                   28:09                Okay. You do that. I was going to say, how does one get this product or is it available and if not, when will it be available?

Ryan Herd:                    28:17                So this is our third generation product.

Debi Lynes:                   28:19                Oh, is it really.

Ryan Herd:                    28:19                It’s going to be coming out the second quarter of this year. It’s the most cost-effective. It’s the smallest. Again, these are tiny, non-intrusive sensors. They’re about the size of a quarter.

Debi Lynes:                   28:32                How do they mount?

Ryan Herd:                    28:34                Peel and stick, You literally peel the back and stick it on the wall. So it’s nice and simple. Now if it seems like it’s too complicated, we’re in the middle of forming a partnership with a nationwide installation company. So this way we’d be able to take care of you. So again, we have some amazing things coming out in the next quarter. So stay tuned.

Debi Lynes:                   28:54                Did you have any idea when you first started and went to school that this would be the direction that you would take when you were a kid? Now are your three boys pretty techie too?

Ryan Herd:                    29:05                They’re techie because dad’s a techie, but a funny story a side note is I come from a family of entrepreneurs. My mother is a entrepreneur, my uncles are entrepreneurs. And when I got out of high school, I actually went to culinary arts school. So I got a degree as a chef.

Debi Lynes:                   29:21                You’re a chef? Of course you are.

Ryan Herd:                    29:22                I left that and I started an electronics company in 1989 so that was…

Debi Lynes:                   29:29                Tell me about reinventing. Oh, I absolutely love this. There you go. Well, I tell you what. I’ve got a little homework to do now. I’m going to go read up a little bit more about the smart guy and I really appreciate you taking time today and is there anything that you can say is on the horizon, a little teaser that we could look forward to soon?

Ryan Herd:                    29:52                So for Caregiver Smart Solutions, we are trying to answer that fundamental question which is how are they doing. And at the end of the day it’s the little things that are important. Is the, is your loved one moving around? Is she opening up the fridge? Is she doing all those things as well as so much more now on the horizon you’re going to see some amazing stuff with us. We are going to be partnering with some of the best companies that are out there. You’re going to see us expand as far as the granularity and the more information that you can get because our goal is to really get into your loved one’s house as early as possible. So this way we can fix as many things as possible as they age and as they age. Really give them the ability and give you the ability to help them out and keep their independence for literally as long as we possibly can.

Debi Lynes:                   30:42                You are absolutely amazing. We want to thank you. We want to thank all of you for joining us. I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine, Tracy. Tracy is naturally curious and always creative and when we were doing the Aging in Place Podcast, she said there are so many quick tips that I can think of offhand. My response, who knew she’s going to be with us every week, giving us a quick tip and to hint that is a practical application.

Tracy Snelling:              31:16                Thanks Debi. This shot is for you. I only take five pills a day, so I really don’t need a pillbox every morning. I place my five pills in three cute little shot glasses, one for morning, one for afternoon and one for bedtime. At a glance, I can see [via sensors] if I’ve taken my medications. Of course, keeping them out of the reach of little ones is safety, but since I live alone, I placed mine next to my coffee pot and as I do take my medications, I turn the shot glass upside down. The plastic shot cups makes it handy if you’re a caregiver to remember how the nurses pass medications out in the hospital. It makes it so much easier for the elderly to take their meds out of a cup. Then just placing them in their hands. Who knew those glasses have more than one use?

Debi Lynes:                   32:07                It’s pretty amazing to see the direction we’re going for aging in place. My takeaway for today is pretty simple. It’s all about sensors. Just remember that it’s all about sensors. Again, we want to thank all of you for joining us here on aging in place. Have a great week and thank you, Ryan Herd.

Henrik de Gyor:             32:31                Aging in Place Podcast is hosted by Debi Lynes and produced by Henrik de Gyor. If you have any comments or questions, send an email to debi@aginginplacepodcast.com. We would love to hear from you. If you’re interested in advertising or sponsoring this podcast, email us at PR@aginginplacepodcast.com. Thank you for listening to Aging in Place Podcast.

2. Sean Stewart

~ Henrik de Gyor ~ Leave a comment

Dr. Debi Lynes interviews Sean Stewart about technology in the home for any stage in life

(duration: 34 minutes 47 seconds)

Sean Stewart

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Amazon Echo Dot

Control4

Custom Audio Video

Dusk til dawn nightlights

Josh AI

Motion-activated nightlights

Takeaways

Don’t be intimidated by technology.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

The point of all of this technology is to make your life easier and simplify it, not to make it more difficult, so don’t hesitate to call when it comes to technology.

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Transcript

Debi Lynes:                   00:03                Hi and welcome to Aging in Place for every stage in life. What if you could visit or have a home that would accommodate anyone at any age, any physical ability, at any time? How cool would that be? That’s what we’re doing here at aging in place. Why me? Because I’m a doctor of psychology and I specialize in physical spaces and health and wellness. Also, I love designing with intent at any age. Why now? Because we, the baby boomers, want to age in place gracefully and we want our families around us as much as we can. Why you the audience? Because we want you to experience what it’s like to have a home that’s safe, aesthetically pleasing, and that you can live in at any age, with any ability, at any time. I’d like to introduce you now to Aging in Place Podcast for every stage in life.

Debi Lynes:                   01:05                Hi and welcome to the next episode of Aging in Place, the podcast. We’re very excited. My friend Sean Stewart is here from Custom Audio Video. I tell you what, I am more excited to talk to you. We have been trying to demystify, if you will, a little bit of aging in place. And a lot of people think of it is as you get older you want to stay in your home, but you and I have talked about this, Sean, many times. It’s really about being able to live in your home at any age, universally, and we can all function there. And I have to admit that talking about technology is a little intimidating to me. So I’m going to ask you before we even get started to talk a little bit, Sean, about what you do and about Custom Audio Video.

Sean Stewart:               01:53                Yeah. So Custom Audio Video is here in Bluffton [South Carolina] and we cover all kinds of things technology-wise in the home. Now some things may fit more in place with what we’re trying to talk to about today, but overall we do, you know, home theaters, audio systems, stereo systems, networking, and internet throughout your home. We’ll talk more probably about automation and a lot of the smart home stuff that we do. We do lighting control. We do shade control. We can do furniture even. When it comes down to good living room furniture that fits with that home theater feel. So we do all kinds of stuff.

Debi Lynes:                   02:32                And what is your role specifically? Because you have an interesting job there.

Sean Stewart:               02:35                Yeah. My role is kind of multifaceted in a lot of ways. I oversee the showroom so if anybody wants to come through during the week and just want to see what we have, I’ll probably be the one there waiting for them. I also do a lot of this kind of stuff, being the face and the voice of the company, talking a lot about what we do, and working with architects, builders, clients, and designers trying to get the idea out there. A lot of what we do isn’t necessarily common knowledge, but it’s stuff a lot of people want to learn about what we can do, they want it. It really cool stuff.

Debi Lynes:                   03:00                Exactly. And like I said, the psychology of technology in the home can be a little intimidating. And I think that if we can just bust a little stigma and demystify this, we will be good to go for a lot of people. Let’s talk a little bit, if we can, about what an automated home looks like throughout the ages.

Sean Stewart:               03:28                Yeah. So first I want to distinguish that there’s a big difference between a smart home and home automation. I’ll explain why. Smart home: the way to think of it more is a lot of different kind of subsystems. You can have smart lighting in your home. You can have multi-room audio. You can have shades that go up and down. You can have front door locks. You can have thermostat control, for instance. So these are all kinds of individual subsystems, almost individual silos, if you will. Home automation is bringing them all together into one system. So instead of having to go on your phone or your iPad and go, I want to turn on my lights. I want to change the thermostat. I need to unlock the front door.

Sean Stewart:               04:12                With home automation, when I come home with one command, whether it’s just knowing that I’m home or a button that I hit, I am going to open the shade, turn the lights, change the thermostat, and unlock the door. Do all those things. So that home automation is taking the smart home and making it even easier and more convenient.

Debi Lynes:                   04:30                Okay. So let’s start at the very beginning. I am a potential client and again, I’ve got grandchildren and I’ve got aging adults in my home. How do we even begin? Where do I start? So I come to you and say, Sean, help. Here’s what I’ve got. Here are my needs. Here is my home. What helps you? What do you need?

Sean Stewart:               04:48                Yeah, so from our standpoint, we’ve got some designers that are trained on all these systems to create a system and really figure out your needs, to help you understand what’s out there and kind of match what you want. The awesome thing about all this is that it’s very scalable. So if you want something very simple, or you want something that covers the home in a lot of different ways? It’s available.

Debi Lynes:                   05:14                So when cost is no object, you’ve got it, and when cost is an object, you’ve got that too. Can you create a master plan? And we can build on that too.

Sean Stewart:               05:22                You can. Now though, of course there are going to be some pieces that over time maybe change a little bit. There are going to be cornerstone pieces that you want to put into place and the little things you can add here or there as convenience or time…

Debi Lynes:                   05:37                You’re so good. Cornerstone piece. Let’s start at the very beginning. So I walk in and I want to create an automated home. I want Clementine, my one year old, and my dad to be able to function… Not equally, but you know what I’m saying. What would you recommend as a first step? It’s a blank slate for you. So we’re going to kind of do a wishlist or master plan, if you will. We’re building a home. We’ve got no walls or windows yet. Where do I want to start for universal design?

Sean Stewart:               05:58                Well, if you’re starting that early, we always recommend starting with a good pre-wire. Essentially, you are wiring the home for the future. You know, things used to be co-ax everywhere, but thankfully we’ve moved to ethernet cat[egory] five or cat[egory] six [cables]. That can do a lot of different things.

Debi Lynes:                   06:33                So what do I do? Do I sit down with my architect? My builder? You? Do we come as a team and decide what that’s going to look like for us?

Sean Stewart:               06:40                Yeah. So from our standpoint, we always say as early as we can get involved as possible, that’s the best. We have a lot of jobs that we start, and then there’s a big period where maybe we’re not doing work, but we’ve answered questions that don’t have to be redone when we get there. So we can sit down with the plans and say: Hey, this is where you want TVs. This is where you want shades. This is where you want lighting control. This is what we need to do to get all that done.

Debi Lynes:                   07:05                Do I have to have done research? Do I have to be an expert? Or am I really relying on you to help guide me as to what I need and can afford?

Sean Stewart:               07:13                No, you don’t have to do any research. Of course we welcome it if people are interested, but we also have customers that go, you know what, I don’t really want to worry about it. I’ve got my own thing. This is what you are for. I happily say that nobody on our team is a salesman.

Debi Lynes:                   07:29                That’s a really good thing.

Sean Stewart:               07:32                They’re there to figure out what you need, what you really want, and help get to that point.

Debi Lynes:                   07:37                So let’s talk about the different silos and the basic component pieces. What would you call a basic component piece for home automation?

Sean Stewart:               07:45                Lighting control for instance. You know, making it simple. We call it the critical path. Where are you going to go from the time you come home? For instance, whether you always come through the front door and you go to the living space or you come from your garage and you go to living space. What lights need to come on to make it very convenient for you to get in?

Debi Lynes:                   08:06                It’s really interesting that you say that, because we were talking on previous episodes about the entry of a house is probably one of the most important things you can do for universal design in aging in place. Making sure that you have safe access. And that’s really what you’re saying. So lighting would be the first… what did you call it? Critical path.

Sean Stewart:               08:26                Yeah, the critical path. Where are you going to walk pretty much very time you come in your home. Whether it’s coming in the garage and going to the kitchen and that’s kind of where the hub is. I know that’s how it pretty much works in my house. I come in, I go into the main living space.

Debi Lynes:                   08:38                So what do you have? Do you have something on your phone? Do you have a panel? What does all that look like?

Sean Stewart:               08:44                Yeah, so there’s a couple of different ways to do it. The most common way is using your phone and setting up what’s called a geo-fence. So essentially when your phone recognizes you’re within a certain area of your home, it’s going to activate a system that is going to trigger certain things. In this case, turning on maybe your porch light and your entryway light and your kitchen lights so that when you come home, maybe you’ve got some groceries. You don’t have to worry about finding the switch it’s already on for you.I

Debi Lynes:                   09:09                I mean, what a great age to live in. Okay, so that’s amazing. So now I’ve entered my home, my lights are on and is it going to go ahead and take me through the critical path all the way back to my bathroom, my bedroom?

Sean Stewart:               09:23                That really comes down to how in depth do you want to go. Can you control every single light system in your house? Absolutely. But not everyone wants to put that kind of cost into it. Right, because you really need to control your guest bedrooms?

Debi Lynes:                   09:40                Teenage bedrooms. That would be fun. Yeah, I see exactly what you’re saying. So what I hear you say is lighting the critical path is probably the first thing we want to look at, a silo that we really want to take into consideration. But, again, you can build as much or as little as you want to do. I absolutely love that. We’re taking a quick break. We’ve got about a minute to go. We’re going to come back cause I want to spend a little more time in this next segment talking about some of the other silos that we have for aging in place and technology. Again, we’re with Sean Stewart, Custom Audio Video, stay with us.

Debi Lynes:                   10:14                Hi, I’m Dr. Debi Lynes. Design elements are psychologically and physically supportive and conducive to health and wellness. To learn more about what Lynes on Design can do for you, for more information on certified aging in place and facilitative and supportive design, Look for us at lynesondesign.com. That’s L Y N E S on design dot com.

Debi Lynes:                   10:31                We are back here on the Aging in Place Podcast. We are here with Sean Stewart and we are learning about technology as it affects your home at any stage in life, at any age. And Sean is a wonderful source for us to be talking to. So thank you so much. Actually, during the break, it was kind of fun because we were talking about whether it’s an adolescent or a kid or someone who’s broken their leg or an aging parent, many times you’re at home alone. And, it’s interesting to me because I don’t think of cameras and looking in as something that you do or part of technology.

Sean Stewart:               11:20                Yeah. You know, there’s a lot of technology kind of evolved I think around this aging in place idea, but I think there’s also just a lot of other technology that we have, that can be re-purposed for what we’re trying to do. So for instance, you mentioned cameras, surveillance. Of course you can do surveillance outside the house. You can do looking at your driveway to make sure that motion’s coming in or out, or just making sure that there is no motion if you don’t want people around your house. But then for what we’re talking about today, there’s also the monitoring side of it.

Debi Lynes:                   11:55                So what does that even mean?

Sean Stewart:               11:57                One way to look at it would be, you know, we’re here on Hilton Head Island [South Carolina] right now. Let’s say this is where my mom is or my grandmother is, but I live in Atlanta [Georgia].

Sean Stewart:               12:07                I can’t always keep an eye on her and make sure that she’s fine, but I want to make sure that if something happens, I know at least as quick as possible. So with some programming, for instance, you can have a camera that looks over a common space in the home and it has a way to detect motion. If it doesn’t detect motion for a certain amount of time, you can set an alarm to alert me for instance, and go, you know what? I need to check on mom because there’s no motion. And that way it’s kind of, you know, you don’t have to worry about it because there’s something watching that’s taking care and you don’t have to have that constant worry. Do I need to check on her now? Do I need to check on her now? Because I mean, of course, you should call your mom anytime, but you don’t have to worry about it because that’s where technology comes in to help.

Debi Lynes:                   12:52                And all of this again can be tied in and pulled into our…

Sean Stewart:               12:57                Yeah, home automation.

Debi Lynes:                   12:59                I’m going to get this by the end of this. This is my project to be able to get the lingo right. All right, so we talked a little bit about, I love this, critical path lighting. Now we’re talking about surveillance. That’s another kind of cool word and cameras. Take me through some of the other things that come to mind for you.

Sean Stewart:               13:19                So, surveillance is an iffy word too, because a lot of people think of surveillance as like bad. Monitoring overall and camera monitoring is one way to do it as well. But there’s all kinds of sensors that you can put throughout your home that help keep you safe, keep your home safe.

Debi Lynes:                   13:37                What does that mean and what does that look like?

Sean Stewart:               13:39                Well, of course, you know, you’ve got smoke detectors. We’ve had smoke detectors for a long time. So there are ways to tie your smoke detectors or CO [carbon monoxide] detectors into your home automation.

Debi Lynes:                   13:54                You hesitated to see if I could fill that in that home automation piece. Smoke detectors and CO [carbon monoxide] detectors I didn’t even think about as part of what you would do. Wow.

Sean Stewart:               14:04                I mean there’s, there’s that. So think about this. For instance, something happens. Fire happens. It sets off the alarm, you can detect it, but then also you can have programming set to where maybe whenever it’s going off, you start flashing your outdoor lights. One, that can help emergency personnel find your home easier. Those few seconds can be the difference between a really bad day and an absolutely awful day. But then it can also, if you’ve got these locks on your door can unlock your door to make it easier for them to get into the home. So, you know, there’s the technology overall. I think a lot of people sometimes can think of it as a scary thing, but it 100% is intended to make our lives better and easier. Now, we can have some issues. Maybe our personal contact gets limited because of technology, but overall life’s definitely better and it’s easier in a lot of ways because of all the different things we can put in our homes to improve our homes.

Debi Lynes:                   15:01                Is there a learning curve to technology or are you finding that things are becoming more streamlined and overall not so intimidating to manage?

Sean Stewart:               15:14                There’s definitely some sort of learning curve, but it’s easier and easier. And that’s where that home automation system comes in a control system because what it does is take that learning curve that may be four or five different apps and brings it into one and you really only have to worry about one.

Debi Lynes:                   15:34                So what does that look like? What is it? Is it an iPad? Is it a phone? Is it a panel on my wall. What am I looking at? What am I seeing?

Sean Stewart:               15:44                All of the above. Honestly. So for instance, one of the ones that we use most often is Control4. So Control4 is the company. It’s a control system. Now it can be very, very simple and control my TV and my Blu-ray player and that’s all I want it to control.

Sean Stewart:               16:01                Or I can start throwing things in like lighting, shades, security, all these different things. You can access it from an app on your phone. You can access it from an iPad. They have specified wall panels that make it very simple. So we always recommend, for instance, if you’re doing a Control4 system, have one or two wall panels in the home. They’re never going to move. They don’t do anything other than the Control4 system. So nobody’s going to take the iPad and hide it somewhere. It will be very easy to get to. It’s right there with all the buttons. Very simple to find, very easy to customize and make it… I mean, it’s really what we’re talking about. Taking all of this technology and making it accessible and custom for whoever needs it.

Debi Lynes:                   16:46                Talk to me about unlocking and locking doors. I didn’t realize that that was even an option either.

Sean Stewart:               16:50                Yeah. So there’s a lot of options for door locks.

Debi Lynes:                   16:55                Because I think that as we get older, again, I’m talking about young kids or aging adults, I would think that locking a door or unlocking it would be something that would be easy to forget.

Sean Stewart:               17:06                Yeah, one of these things with control systems, they take security very seriously, so it’s a whole lot easier to lock the door than it is to unlock the door. And that’s what we really want. Right. If anything, I want my door to be accidentally locked rather than left open all night. So you can have a program, for instance, that our guys can help with that when it’s time to go to bed, you can… we haven’t been talked about voice assistants. You can use your voice or you can hit a button on the iPad and lights go off or dim to a certain way. So it’s not completely dark. Your shades are closed, the AC changes and your doors all lock.

Debi Lynes:                   17:44                I think Sean’s just trying to see if we’re all paying attention. I want to, because you just said, Oh wait, we haven’t even talked about voice assistants. So what are ways to actually, what’s the right word.. activate the system? You said voice system. Because what I’m thinking of is my dad, it would be so much easier for him to be able to voice activate than to probably maneuver on an iPad.

Sean Stewart:               18:10                We see it left and right nowadays, you know where we’re heading into the holiday season now and we’re going to see even more of it. Google Assistant and Alexa. So those are two big ones we use. And we also have another one called Josh AI that we partner with as a voice assistant, a home automation, a voice automation.

Debi Lynes:                   18:30                How does that work?

Sean Stewart:               18:30                It’s pretty complicated in some ways, but it’s very simple in other ways.

Debi Lynes:                   18:35                Like a “Hey Google” kind of thing.

Sean Stewart:               18:36                Yeah, I mean that’s with everything we’re talking about, it’s as simple or as a complex, I don’t want to say complex as much as comprehensive maybe as you want it to be. Some people want that voice assistant to do nothing other than play music when I want my music played; or you can control your lights, control your shades, and control your TV with your voice.

Debi Lynes:                   19:00                Let’s talk about shades for a minute because I know that when I think of window coverings and window treatments, I think of them as kind of multifaceted. Number one they can insulate, they can keep out sun, they can keep cool in and warm out. So that’s a really important thing. Number two, they’re oftentimes very cumbersome and they’re very hard for young people or older people to navigate and negotiate. So I never really thought of them in the same sentence as home automation.

Sean Stewart:               19:28                Yeah. I mean definitely. One you mentioned, your window treatments, and what that brings to your home and the value of your home. But then not having to worry about whether you want some more light in here. You want to shade up?

Debi Lynes:                   19:41                Exactly. Or I’m facing West and it’s five o’clock in the afternoon. Whoa!

Sean Stewart:               19:45                Absolutely. Yeah. You can control that a lots of different ways. Or to take it out of your worry you can automate it. You can program it to a solar clock that as we’re starting to head towards sunset start lowering the shade incrementally so that it’s blocking the sun from coming in and not looking out at the bright sun.

Debi Lynes:                   20:05                Wait. You can set it to a solar clock? So what does that mean?

Sean Stewart:               20:09                So let’s say, you know, you’re looking over the [lowcountry] marsh and the sunsets, you know, at this time of year [around winter soulstice], it’s terrible. It’s about 5:30 pm. Well, the sun is going to start beaming in that window about three o’clock. So about two hours before sunset you can start with programming to lower of the shade in increments, however you want it so that it blocks the sun. So you can keep that view without having to worry about the increased heating costs or the sun just beaming in and kind of making everything uncomfortable.

Debi Lynes:                   20:38                Or the glare on my TV, just saying. Because again, trying to tie all of this stuff together, it’s amazing how when you’re talking about it, Sean, I’m getting an overall visual of how the pieces play together, where I thought it would be really, tough to understand.

Sean Stewart:               20:59                Yeah, I mean that’s my ultimate goal is to try to make this as easy as possible. That’s what our designers are there for, is to figure out all these different pieces that you want to put together in your puzzle and then make that puzzle super easy.

Debi Lynes:                   21:11                What’s the super, we’ve only got 30 seconds or about 30 seconds in this segment, so I have to ask… The super coolest, newest sort of, Whoa, thing. I wish I had a good one.

Sean Stewart:               21:23                Can I think about it for a little bit?

Debi Lynes:                   21:27                We’ll have to think about that one for a few minutes. Well, let me go onto another question and we’ll come back to that super coolest grooviest thing ever. I want to talk when we come back about watches because that was kind of an interesting thing. I also want to talk about, sound systems. We haven’t talked about surround sound. We haven’t talked about it from a design point of view. I don’t want to trip over a speaker. All of those things. I think again, the more we talk, the more questions I have. So stay with us. We’ll all be back here on Aging in Place.

Henrik de Gyor:             22:04                Hi, I’m Henrik, the producer of Aging in Place Podcast. If you’d like more information and transcripts of this podcast, visit AginginPlacepodcast.com and now back to Debi Lynes with the next segment of Aging in Place Podcast. For every stage in life.

Debi Lynes:                  22:23                We are talking to Sean Stewart from Custom Audio Video. We’re talking about technology and home automation and demystifying it and learning a lot about it. And again, it’s a great topic because the more you know, the more you realize, you don’t know and the more there is to know. One of the things I [am] really, really, really curious about is you checked your watch. I’d like to know about some of the ancillary pieces that sort of tie in to home automation. You found a great Forbes article on technology and aging and I find a lot of what that’s going to be interesting too.

Sean Stewart:               22:58                There’s so much with technology and we’ve talked a lot about kind of the protective side of things. How do I make sure that my house is secure? How do I make sure that I’m not tripping over things because the lights are off? How do I monitor where my mom is to make sure she’s fine if I’m out of town, but there’s also just using technology to increase the interactivity, the engagement and enjoyability of life.

Debi Lynes:                   23:22                Which makes a lot of sense because I know as we get older there’s a lot of isolation and I see it even with my dad, he spent a lot more time on the television or listening to music as a way to stay socially connected. What about that? I know there were new TVs. I mean, you’re fantastic TVs that look like you’re right where you are. So talk to us a little bit about those.

Sean Stewart:               23:46                Yeah. Well, one of the great things I think in today’s world with technology is video conferencing, right? Whether it’s FaceTiming or Google Duo or, I mean, even Control4 that we talked about has an intercom ability to go from a wall panel in your home to an iPhone somewhere. Yeah. So it’s, there’s tons of options to interact with people.

Debi Lynes:                   24:08                So, let’s take that from an isolation or socialization point of view. I can have grandchildren in California and I can have a grandparent here and that is a great way to not be isolated. Absolutely. That makes so much sense to me.

Sean Stewart:               24:22                Yeah. So there’s all kinds of ways that you can, you can talk to each other, you can see each other. I was talking to somebody the other day whose grandkids just moved a couple of States away. And the thing that they hate the most was they seem to age so much faster when you don’t see them every day. You know?

Debi Lynes:                   24:39                It makes a lot of sense.

Sean Stewart:               24:40                When you can video with them, it kind of takes that away and then it brings that grandparent – grandchild relationship to a new level.

Debi Lynes:                   24:48                Well let’s talk about really important things cause I know all the guys who are listening are like, “yeah, yeah, yeah, this is great. But could you tell me about TVs and what’s hip and cool and some audio surround systems and what about music?” We got to talk about that.

Sean Stewart:               25:00                Yeah, I mean that’s, that’s right in our wheelhouse of what we do with Customer Audio Video. I mean at Audio Video, we love great TVs, we love great sound systems. And I think you probably talked to one of your other guests about creating spaces in your home that are enjoyable to be in. And that’s what we do as well. We want to create great experiences with your spaces.

Debi Lynes:                   25:19                So what does that look like? What would that feel like? How do I even begin to put that together from a design point of view?

Sean Stewart:               25:26                Yeah, so there’s all kinds of ways to do that and it really like, I don’t want to keep repeating myself on it, but this, it really depends on how much… what kind of scope do you want to go with?

Debi Lynes:                   25:36                Exactly. Well, let’s do this. The cost is no object. Let’s have a wishlist.

Sean Stewart:               25:40                Well, I mean my cost is no object, dedicated theater room somewhere in the house. So you know, great big projector with a great screen. Incredible sound system.

Debi Lynes:                   25:51                Well, let me say this and you and I have talked about this before with sound. I found that the older that I get and I have hearing aids, the older I get, the more sound is really important to my quality of life. And actually when we’ve talked before, that’s a huge thing with people now. The sound systems being able to have that kind of quality. And you said the sound capabilities are…wow!

Sean Stewart:               26:14                Yeah. We get a lot of people who go, “you know, don’t worry too much about sound. My hearing’s going out anyways” and I get the logic behind it, but it’s actually the opposite. When your ears start getting a little iffy, better sound helps because better sound…. I was like to say if you take kind of the spectrum of what a speaker can do and if the sound waves that can hit or this versus this small versus large, a bigger, a bigger range.

Debi Lynes:                   26:43                It’s a podcast that we have to say small versus large.

Sean Stewart:               26:47                So a larger range that is, that the speaker can do, the more difference you can hear in sounds. So you’re watching TV. I think a lot of people have to deal with this. You’re watching TV and there’s a lot of stuff going on and somebody talking, I can’t hear what they’re saying. A lot of that is because all those sounds are coming from one speaker that has a small range. So it’s very hard to differentiate where maybe a good surround sound system is going to take some of those background noises of the cars going by and separate them in other speakers. And then the vocals are going to be dedicated to that center channel with a better quality. That’s going to let you differentiate a lot.

Debi Lynes:                   27:26                So let me ask you a question about just soundproofing a room. Are there ways to do that? If I already had the room intact and I’m going to try to… I’ve got the room, I’m just going to I guess renovate it. What do I do about sound? How do I deal with making the sound… Making the room a better place to absorb sound.

Sean Stewart:               27:48                Yeah. So soundproofing is pretty difficult. So you want to start soundproofing as early as possible in the build process because a real soundproof room is going to essentially be disconnected from all the other systems in your home. But once you start realizing that, okay, well how do I sound easier, right? How do I not bother my neighbors? That kind of thing. And there’s a lot of ways to improve the acoustics of a room.

Debi Lynes:                   28:17                That’s what I’m trying to ask.

Sean Stewart:               28:18                We’ve talked a lot in the past about essentially removing the room from the equation. Right? And, and if you’ve got a room that’s drywall or it’s wood paneling or it’s designed for it, it’s got, you know, good acoustic walls, you want to still remove it from the equation when it comes to what kind of sound quality am I getting? And there’s ways to do that. There’s a technology in receivers for instance, that can our guys can run some tests in the room and it essentially detects the room and it removes it from the equation. It’s a little more complicated with that. A lot of computer programming and algorithms.

Debi Lynes:                   28:58                I’m just mesmerized sitting here listening to it. Are there things like canvases can artwork absorb silence? Are there other ways that we can absorb sounds that are a little more just natural?

Sean Stewart:               29:11                Absolutely. We have some pieces on the wall, for instance that look like a great picture. In fact, they are pictures that somebody on our team took when they were on vacation and you can get them printed on this sound absorbing material. So it looks like nothing more than just a beautiful picture on the wall, but it really improves the quality of the room because if you get a room that’s full of drywall, hardwood floors, you know a lot of reflective surfaces sounds going to bounce everywhere, which is not great for the best sound systems. So it absorbs the sound, stops it from going everywhere and really improves the sound quality.

Debi Lynes:                   29:45                One of the things that we’ve talked about in in some of the podcasts and on one episode specifically is the out of doors and how important it can be to health and wellness to be part of nature. Can we take the same technology outdoors now for outdoor living?

Sean Stewart:               30:03                Absolutely.

Debi Lynes:                   30:04                So what does that look like?

Sean Stewart:               30:06                All kinds of ways. Yeah. The most common ones that we see around here are sound systems outside, right? I’ve got a nice space outside. Looking in the Marsh. I’ve got a beautiful wooded backyard and I want to kind of enjoy nature but also love music. I love that ability. Lots of different options for sound systems that you can put out there draped on wall speakers or in ceiling speakers or even some speakers that you put throughout your landscaping that hide. I mean, if you look around it’d be really hard to find them. We like to call it the Disneyland effect, right? When you walk around Disney World, you’re like, I hear music, but I have no idea where it’s coming from.

Debi Lynes:                   30:43                Well, and I, and I’ll tell you, I really appreciate you coming today, Sean. I’ve learned a lot. I think our goal today was sort of an overarching broad spectrum taste of what technology can do for the aging in place home. And what we’d love to do is have you back and sort of get into some of these silos. I love your word, get a little more specific.

Sean Stewart:               31:06                Do you have any more questions? We always say, you know, call, click or come in our showrooms here in Bluffton, South Carolina in Sheridan park. We’re always welcoming people to come in and see and experience what we’ve got. You can check us out customaudiovideo.com or if you could give us a call at 843-815-5130.

Debi Lynes:                   31:26                So thank you so much for joining us here on the Aging in Place Podcast. Thank you all for joining us. Also stay tuned for the next episode.

Erin Lentz:            31:33                For podcasts, links, information and media inquiries. Please visit our website at aginginplacepodcast.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as our host Debbie Lynes and her expert guests discuss relevant topics for creating a home for all decades in life. Don’t miss our weekly podcast on aging in place for every stage in life. Transition through life where you are with the comfort and ease you deserve. Discover how you can start creating a home that will adapt to you as you journey through life and the changes it will bring.

Debi Lynes:                   32:07                I’d like to introduce you to a friend of mine, Tracy. Tracy is naturally curious and always creative and when we were doing the Aging in Place Podcast, she said there are so many quick tips that I can think of offhand. My response, “who knew”. She’s going to be with us every week, giving us a quick tip and to hint that is a practical application.

Tracy Snelling:              32:35                Thanks Debbie. Light it up like a Vegas strip stub, bruised knees, countertop, hit to the hip. I’ll usually happen in the night. You know those water pills are keeping the blood pressure down or the little one needs that last sip of water all seem to happen after 8:00 PM or when the sun goes down for safety nightlights are a must. There are ones that are motion-activated, ones that simply come on when it’s dark and some that just stay on 24 hours a day. Whichever ones you choose, you will be glad you did. Light your path. Buy four or five or more. Walk the direction you need to take installing them and every outlet, if it will prevent you from a fall or even an ouchie, even your little ones may just get that last drink by himself if he wasn’t afraid of the dark, so light it up like Vegas. Your toes will thank you and that’s your “who knew”.

Debi Lynes:                   33:28                Sean Stewart, you’re a wonderful guest and I tell you what, I learned so much about custom audio, video and all the opportunities that are available. As always, it’s fun to have our takeaway. What did we learn from this segment? I can be very clear. Here’s what we learned: Don’t be intimidated by technology. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. What we learned today is the point of all of this technology is to make your life easier and simplify it, not to make it more difficult, so don’t hesitate to call when it comes to technology. Thank you all for joining us here on Aging in Place Podcast. Have a wonderful week.

Henrik de Gyor:             34:17                Aging in Place Podcast is hosted by Debi Lynes, marketing by Erin Lentz and produced by Henrik de Gyor. If you have any comments or questions, send an email to debi@aginginplacepodcast.com. We would love to hear from you. If you’re interested in advertising or sponsoring this podcast, email us at PR@aginginplacepodcast.com. Thank you for listening to Aging in Place Podcast.

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