Inside Sunderland's amazing assisted-living tech house - where even the dog feeder is voice-activated

A former janitor's house in Sunderland has been transformed into a showcase for the latest technology to help people live independently..

Led by Sunderland’s Adult Services Team and Sunderland Care and Support, the building at the city’s Leechmere Centre has been equipped from top to bottom with cutting edge equipment to demonstrate the help available to those living with physical disabilities or dementia.

The house, which had previously been used as office space, can now be used for researching and testing new assistive technology, carrying out patient assessments, and training students and partners.

The technology in the smart home is based on existing products available in the high street and can support with everything from opening curtains and controlling lighting to setting medication reminders - and even activating the vacuum cleaner and filling the dog's bowl.

The house features a specially adapted toilet and shower and two lifts - one on the stairs and a second directly between floors - and a sensory area.

Demonstrating the equipment in a realistic domestic setting makes it easier for customers to decide what will help them in their own homes.

Coun Kelly Chequer is Sunderland City Council’s Cabinet Member for Healthy City: "The smart house at Leechmere has an important role to play in our plans around health and social care as we want to make sure that nobody is left behind and everybody is supported to live a healthy, independent life," she said.

The Smart House will be used by Occupational Therapists, technologists, their customers and their partners as a place to try out new ideas and train teams on how to use assistive technology.

Linsey Proud, Occupational Therapy Team Manager, said: “We really want to use this smart house to demonstrate how we can apply this way of working so that everybody in our city has an equal opportunity to see how tech can be integrated into their lives to support continuous independence through every stage of life.

“The technology is ever-developing and it’s been amazing watching the house go from a shell to a place where we can demonstrate what is available for our customers in a real home environment that doesn’t feel clinical.

“It was important from the outset that the home was as real as possible, that it was just like a normal home and uses technology that we can easily get hold of.”