Global Center for Health Innovation's State of the Art Home will showcase technology that helps patients at home. Watch video
View full sizeThe Global Center for Health Innovation will include the State of the Art Home, a space that showcases health technology for the home. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The health technology showcased in the Global Center for Health Innovation's State of the Art Home will be whiz-bang stuff that's on the shelves today -- products such as a bed that sends out an alert when an elderly patient hasn't arisen in the morning, and paint that absorbs odors.
"It's not the Jetson's home," said Dave Shute, senior strategic adviser for the Global Center and producer of the State of the Art Home. When the home opens next year, visitors will tour its rooms and see examples of health technology that's on the market now to help people with mobility and vision challenges thrive in their homes.
Jim Bennett, senior vice president of the Global Center for Health Innovation and the Cleveland Convention Center, came up with the concept of the State of the Art Home, Shute said.
The State of the Art Home fits the trend of finding ways to care for patients outside of expensive hospital stays. "We want people to understand more comprehensively what's possible," Shute said.
This piece of the Global Center won't be finished by the time the downtown facility opens this month. The home is scheduled for completion in February as part of the center's second phase, said Dave Johnson, spokesman for Global Center developer MMPI.
The home's vendors, products and displays are still being nailed down. It's expected to open with eight vendors and eventually expand to 30, Johnson said.
The State of the Art Home will consist of a living room, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and outdoor space. In each room, visitors will activate a video of the room's features with voice-over narration. The narration introduces a fictional patient and describes how the room's features help with mobility or sight issues. As a product is discussed on the video, a spotlight in the room will draw visitors' attention to it.
In the bedroom, visitors will hear an elderly woman with heart disease describe how her bed moves her to alleviate bedsores. In the living room, a 30-year-old war veteran who has lost a limb will explain how special furniture makes his home a welcoming place when he entertains guests with various disabilities and how telemedicine keeps him in touch with doctors, Shute said.
A teenaged paraplegic who uses a wheelchair will discuss how she appreciates lower kitchen cabinets and shelves. An elderly diabetic man benefits from a tub with a door so that he doesn't have to climb in and out, or a weight scale that sends data automatically to his doctor.
A space representing the outdoors will showcase ramps and devices that help patients get in and out of a car more easily, Shute said.
The State of the Art Home is a collaborative space curated by the Global Center for Health Innovation, so it can include products from rival companies, Shute said. "It makes a lot of sense for us to control this space," he said. Devices and products in the State of the Art Home won't be functional, but visitors will be able to get more information via the video screens or a phone that links to a help desk.
Shute declined to specify which health-care vendors he has approached about displaying their products. Over time, new technology will replace the old, Shute said.
"Everyone will find something that resonates," he said. "Any of us will be awed by the level of innovation - innovation you can use today."