High costs have been mentioned as one of the key factors in the past, but also lack of standardisation and lack of information to the end user were of big influence so far. However, costs have been reduced enormously in recent years. The recent flats in Belgium have clearly demonstrated this. Competition between suppliers is one of the key factors, but also some degree of standardisation of bus systems is under way. Conclusion Adequate application of smart home technology or domotics has the potential to maintain and enhance the quality of life and might even contribute in reducing the increase of cost of care.
Several factors contribute to the fact that smart home technology is still a rare phenomenon.
High costs have been mentioned as one of the key factors in the past, but also lack of standardisation and lack of information to the end user were of big influence so far. In this paper it has been demonstrated that a smart model house is very useful for both bringing information to the end user and developing new applications for telematics with the help of older panelists. Finally, it has been argued that a house with smart home technology must be a life-time house per definition.