Can a smart home fill in caregiving gaps?

As Peter strode across 20th Street, his mother’s apartment building came into view. Her one-bedroom home in Philadelphia’s historic Rittenhouse Square area was a four-minute walk from the three-story row house where he lived with his wife and two children.

His pace was brisk because he was a man in a hurry, busy with the demanding work of middle-aged life as a father to two grade schoolers, husband to a wife, and leader of a startup medical device company. This visit was part of his fourth job.

Peter is one among the 11 million Americans performing the work of caregiving. His responsibility is his mother, who is one of the 6 million people living with disabling cognitive impairments caused by dementia. Today’s caregiving task — a consequence of escalating challenges in her ability to use devices and appliances — was peculiar.