The SM4ALL project developed an embedded middleware platform to create smart homes that can help disabled and elderly people. The platform synchronizes household devices to automatically complete complex tasks through voice commands or brain-computer interfaces. The multi-disciplinary team overcame challenges integrating different technologies to create demonstrations of intelligent home assistance like drawing baths. The open platform aims to lower smart home costs and make the technology widely available.

1. Smart ideas
In today’s world technology is king and its impact immeasurable. Drs Roberto Baldoni, Massimo
Mecella and Christoph Guger discuss the smart technology they have developed, which is set to
SM4ALL
have an immeasurable impact on the homes and lives of disabled and elderly people
The benefits can Other consortium members included the
therefore be seen in University of Groningen (The Netherlands);
terms of both smart Technical University Wien (Austria); and
space vendors/creators the Royal Institute of Technology and the
– who can employ this Swedish Defense Research Agency (Sweden).
technology in their Together with Sapienza University of Rome,
products – and also the partners worked on the core service-based
final users, able to middleware technologies and automatic
enjoy better spaces, service composition approaches. Our industrial
in which they are partners included Telefonica R&D (Spain) and
To begin, could you describe the purpose of seamlessly immersed. Elsag Datamat (Italy), which worked on all
the ‘Smart hoMes for all’ (SM4all) project aspects, bringing the technology to market.
and your long-term goals? Could you elaborate on the project’s
partnership with Guger Technologies Can you shed light on some of the issues that
RB: SM4all has the ambitious goal of boosting OEG and the contributions it has made to have arisen over the course of the project?
and structuring the cyber intelligence that SM4all?
surrounds us at home in order to make RB: From a technical perspective the main
our lives simpler. The basic idea is to bring CG: Guger Technologies has been producing difficulty has been the integration of so many
together all devices present in a house and Brain Computer Interface (BCI) systems different hard- and software technologies
coordinate their activities automatically in since 1999, selling this technology in more under the SM4all software framework (from
order to execute complex tasks that involve than 60 countries. For SM4all, Guger BCI to raw hardware devices). Organisationally
many appliances (such as preparing a bath, Technologies developed a much smaller speaking, the challenge has been ensuring each
creating a certain mood in a room, following a and easier BCI system that can be mounted partner’s awareness of the struggle that lies
video, saving energy, closing the house, etc.). and used quickly. This system was also used ahead. Continuous motivation here has been
Inhabitants can both interact and programme, by other SM4all partners as a platform for key to reaching our targets.
in a simple way, the intelligent house through further development and user tests. These
a number of user devices such as the iPads and tests provided useful information for future Are there any other aspects of your work
smartphones. research and improvements. These results you would like to highlight?
were then disseminated at many international
The project has been able to develop specific conferences and trade shows. RB: SM4all has generated a number of
demonstrations using Brain Computer Interface. national projects. As an example a project on
This technology allows the user to interact with Further to this, how has the project smart homes (funded by Sapienza University
the SM4all environment using brain waves, benefited from an interdisciplinary and of Rome), and another on BCI applications
without touching any input device. The user collaborative approach? for domotic environment (Fondazione Santa
simply concentrates on a specific icon shown on Lucia) were selected and presented at the
a screen in order to initiate the action. MM: The project has a truly multidisciplinary Italian Pavillon of the Shangai Expo in 2010.
spirit. Besides Guger Technologies, it includes The project ‘Smart Homes’ includes the use
Who will benefit most from your Fondazione Santa Lucia (Rome) – a hospital of SM4all technology in the development of
technology? Could you provide an example and research centre specialising in disabilities, robots designed to help disabled people carry
of how they will benefit? which worked on BCI systems in cooperation out daily activity inside their homes.
with Guger Technologies. The institute
MM: The technology, based on the pillar has provided a setting for the consortium CG: The SM4all project has illustrated that
concept of service-oriented architecture, to run its experiments. In addition, Dutch smart home technology is really important
enables the creation of smart environments, collaborators Thuiszorg Het Friese Land, who for paralysed people. It is very important that
ranging from houses to entire buildings. In a work with elderly and disabled people, kindly smart homes enter the mass market so that
follow-up project, for example, we are utilising provided requirements, test beds and user the costs of domotic devices decrease, making
this research to control energy in buildings. validation. these systems cheaper for patients.
SM4ALL DEVICES OFFERING SERVICES (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT): ENGINE FOR DOORS, SMOKE SENSOR, SMART FRIDGE, ENGINE FOR CURTAINS, SMART STEREO
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2. SM4ALL
Plugged in
SM4all is a platform seeking to
push the boundaries of modern
living by synchronising household
devices to create a person-centric
environment. Having just reached
its completion, we examine the
important steps made and the
challenges it has overcome
BEING ABLE TO interact with your home and
coordinate its devices using your brain waves
has long been imagined in the realms of science
fiction; now it appears to be on the brink of
reality. The SM4all project is an embedded
middleware platform for pervasive and immersive
environments, developing smart homes for all,
but with a special focus on the elderly, disabled
and chronically ill.
Led by Dr Roberto Baldoni, this cutting-edge
project looks to impact the lives of those with
limited or no physical movement through the use
of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology.
A BCI system measures brain activity in order
to control external devices. This is performed
by means of electroencephalography (EEG)
electrodes mounted on the head and a bio-
signal amplifier that measures the user’s brain
waves. The data generated is then analysed by
a computer system in real-time so that specific
thoughts can be translated. For people who are
totally or partially paralysed this technology and
its application could represent a great step forward
in performing simple actions autonomously.
Although the project is now focused on executing
complex actions and synchronising household
devices automatically using the SM4all system,
this technology has a wide market and could
be used in the entertainment and amusement
industries. While such applications throw up
exciting possibilities, SM4all remains primarily
focused on its foremost aim of serving those
unable to negotiate general home devices.
PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES
Using BCI, individuals are able to control the
SM4all system mentally. On first impression,
this may sound like something from a Hollywood
blockbuster, but arriving at this point has
required an inordinate amount of hard work and
tenacity. Christoph Guger, one of the principal
investigators of SM4ALL, is eager to mark out
the progress the team has made: “About three
years ago we needed a complete day of training
data, but currently we require about five minutes
of EEG data from every user to calibrate the BCI
system before SM4all can be controlled”. EEG, a
recording of the electrical activity of the brain, is
the means through which the smart-embedded
services are able to be dynamically interconnected
and reconfigured, allowing the individual to be
A PATIENT USING THE BCI immersed in his/her environment. For instance,
70 INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION

3. are active, these points are still valid, but are more INTELLIGENCE
necessary if the user is infirm. SM4all aims to direct
this platform for inter-working of smart embedded SM4ALL
services in immersive and person-centric
environments to users with different abilities and SMART HOMES FOR ALL – AN
needs, eg. the young able-bodied; the aged; and EMBEDDED MIDDLEWARE PLATFORM
those who are disabled. The general usability, based FOR PERVASIVE AND IMMERSIVE
on the project’s suggestions, has been tested with ENVIRONMENTS
real users, and the outcomes have indicated that OBJECTIVES
VIRTUAL SMART there is still exciting work ahead for the team. With
HOUSE, USED innovative projects like SM4all, where cutting- The project aims at studying and developing
IN DEVELOPING edge technology is being employed, applications an innovative middleware platform for
AND TESTING are invariably borne out of much labour-intensive inter-working of smart embedded services in
THE SYSTEM research and testing. immersive and person-centric environments,
through the use of composability and
if a person wishes to take a bath, the home’s
ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND ECONOMY declarative techniques, in order to guarantee
services will collaborate with the individual’s
request – the bath will be filled with water that Today, smart homes are very costly and remain overall dynamicity.
is 37oC, the temperature in the bathroom will be to some extent a toy for the rich, rather than PARTNERS
raised and the wardrobe in the bedroom opened an affordable commodity. The project has
in order to provide easy access to the bathrobe. succeeded in its goals by developing an open Sapienza University of Rome; Fondazione
software platform to lower the installation and Santa Lucia; Elsag Datamat, Italy
These embedded systems are specialised operational costs of smart homes, ensuring that
computers employed by larger systems to they become more financially viable in the future. Technische Universitaet Wien; Guger
control, for example, cars, home appliances, Mecella likens the progress that SM4all aims to Technologies OEG, Austria
communication and office machines. The concept make in facilitating affordable mass products
University of Groningen; Thuiszorg Het
of embedded systems is not in itself new. However,
in the context of next generation buildings and Friese Land, The Netherlands
infrastructures, eHealth, domotics and other Royal Institute of Technology (KTH);
domains where invisible embedded systems Swedish Defence Research Agency,
need to continuously interact with human users
Sweden
and respond to service requests, having users at
the centre throws up questions of security and Telefonica Investigacion y Desarrollo,
privacy, as well as new challenges relating to Spain
the dynamicity, scalability and dependability of
current middleware and service technologies. CONTACT
Professor Roberto Baldoni
MEETING THE CHALLENGES Project Coordinator
To respond to the unique needs of the user, sensors Sapienza University of Rome
and services that continuously adapt depending
Via Ariosto 25
on the user’s habits and specific environment
are required. By adding, removing or composing I-00185 Rome, Italy
PORTABLE BCI HARDWARE FROM G.TEC
services offered by sensors and devices, SM4all T +39 0677274014
aims to improve the dynamicity of its system, E baldoni@dis.uniroma1.it
allowing it to be customised more readily. to that of the decreasing price of flatscreen TVs:
the SM4all team forecast that the technological http://www.sm4all-project.eu
When a system is used by the elderly, disabled or progress and solutions proposed will drive down
incapacitated, dependability, security and privacy the cost of smart homes. ROBERTO BALDONI conducts research on
are paramount. Technical Manager, Massimo distributed systems with a specific emphasis
Mecella, is mindful of the need for discretion, and Another aspect of SM4all’s technology is the
on dependability and security aspects.
it is his belief that the design of such a system provision of more energy-efficient living. An
He has led several large collaborative
should incorporate privacy preservation from the awareness of space, temperature, luminosity, the
outset. This is in contrast to current models, where smart composition of services, and adaptation interdisciplinary projects at National
such mechanisms are added-on at a later stage. capabilities, are all areas of the project’s research and European level on cyber intelligence.
that lend it perfectly to energy-efficient Currently, Roberto is vice-chair of the
These considerations are crucial to the development applications. This concept is being explored through IEEE Technical Committee on Dependable
and usability of the SM4all system. For persons that the Greener Buildings project, which started in Computing and Fault Tolerance.
2010 and is continuing through to August 2013.
Although SM4all’s lifespan formally came to a
close in August 2011, it is far from over in terms of
its impact and future endeavours. The platform
has exceeded its objectives, and its outcomes are
being contractually utilised by ITRI, the largest
Taiwanese industrial research institute, who
have a wealth of expertise in the production of
innovative intelligent devices for homes. As a
result of the team’s ingenuity, there is no doubt
that the SM4all project, in spite of its name, has
made a big contribution in the development of
THE SM4ALL USER INTERFACE FOR TABLETS smart home technology.
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