Seeking to empower residents to create safer and healthier homes, Aico, the European Market Leader in Home Life Safety, has launched the third iteration of the HomeLINK App for Residents. The app provides an innovative solution to some of the housing sector’s biggest challenges, such as damp, mould, and poor indoor air quality, allowing residents to take the first steps in improving their home’s health.
The app is a complementary addition to Aico’s HomeLINK Internet of Things (IoT) platform, which includes a network of fire and carbon monoxide alarms, environmental sensors, and the Ei1000G Gateway that connects them all. Designed to provide residents with detailed information about the health and safety of their home, the app provides users with hints, tips, and recommendations to improve their home’s indoor environmental conditions, in turn improving their own health and wellbeing.
For example, with the improved core features, residents will receive notifications and recommendations detailing how to reduce the risk of allergens, mould, and indoor air pollution, in addition to fire alarm testing reminders. Through real-time information, residents will see a breakdown of carbon dioxide, temperature, and humidity conditions within each room, followed by educational information to better understand their home.
A game-changing new feature with the opportunity for enhanced care provides residents with the ability to invite others to the app, so that their family members, carers, or friends can also access the information to support the resident in following the healthy home recommendations.
Innovation is a key part of Aico’s ethos, and their colleagues at HomeLINK are at the forefront of the research and development for the HomeLINK App for Residents. Taking this to the next level, residents can now trial new, experimental features via the app, such as different design elements, allowing HomeLINK to directly collect feedback and quickly implement better user experiences.
Amrita Poptani, Product Manager at HomeLINK, comments, “One of the things we noticed early on was how the tiniest things could affect the moods, perceptions, and overall mental health of the resident when using the app. With this in mind, we ensured elements of the new user experience were fun, exciting, and light without taking away from the seriousness of the information. And while it’s always a work in progress, this new version not only lays the foundations perfectly, but it’s also ‘very snazzy’, as one of our resident-testers put it.”
To date, Aico has brought their HomeLINK connected, smart home solution to over 22,000 socially rented homes in the UK and this number is increasing exponentially, with over 136,000 devices installed, encompassing a Gateway for each property with a set of connected alarms and environmental sensors.
