Samsung Electronics Launches 'Family Care' Service for Elderly Parents

Managing Daily Life with SmartThings and IoT
First Activity of the Day, Notifications to Family Members
Schedule Management Feature Useful for Medication Reminders

Samsung Electronics announced on the 30th that it started the 'Family Care' service, which helps elderly parents with their daily lives, from the 24th.

A Samsung Electronics model is experiencing the 'Schedule Management' feature, including medication time alerts, of the AI life solution for parents, SmartThings 'Family Care' service. Photo by Samsung Electronics

Family Care is implemented through Samsung Electronics' integrated connection platform SmartThings and Internet of Things (IoT) appliances. It recognizes activities such as opening the refrigerator door or drinking water from the water purifier after waking up as the first activity of the day and sends notifications to family members. It also has an activity notification function that alerts when a designated device is not used for a certain period, judging it as an abnormal sign.

The schedule management feature is useful when there are family members who need to take medication regularly. It notifies the set medication time, blood pressure and blood sugar measurement times, and hospital appointment times via smartphone or smart TV. The function that automatically dispenses water from the water purifier when it is time to take medication will also be supported through a software update next month. Notification settings using smart lighting and speakers are planned to be added within this year.

The location-based care service allows checking the parents' location via smartphone and registering places of interest to notify whenever they visit those locations. It also manages the home through SmartThings-connected device control such as remote induction control, and ingredients can be checked through the Family Hub refrigerator camera.

Samsung Electronics plans to expand the countries where the service is applied and continuously add features so that all family members with care recipients can enjoy a comfortable and safe daily life. Jaeyeon Jeong, Vice President of Samsung Electronics Device Platform Center, said, "Through SmartThings, we will satisfy customers' diverse demands arising from social changes and provide a more evolved smart home experience."