In keeping with our goals to develop, test, and implement QoLT in the real world, we have been establishing formal working relationships with several regional facilities and organizations.

Our main partner, The McKeesport Independent Zone (McKIZ), enables us to move the paradigm of an aware and assistive home to the development of an aware and assistive community infrastructure by incorporating devices and methods into a small urban community of homes, recreation facilities, retail, and service providers, on city streets with vehicular traffic. This broadens our research, data collection and evaluation of persons with disabilities and aging residents to include activities of daily living that extend beyond the confines of their home.

McKiz Community Testbed

The McKeesport Independent Zone (McKIZ) is a project for the development of a community of 15-20 new single family homes, or "Smart Cottages," on a 10-acre site located in McKeesport, PA. McKeesport is a city of 24,000 inhabitants located 15 miles south east of Pittsburgh. It is an old steel town on the Monongahela River and the city was devastated by the steel industry decline in the 1980's. In McKeesport there are 6000 (25%) seniors over 60 years of age, the norm being a 75 year old woman living alone with under $12,000 annual income.

The prototype model home, the Smart Cottage built by one of our partners, Blueroof Technologies (a local non-profit), has been constructed on the site to be accessible, smart, safe, energy efficient, and affordable. It is constructed with infrastructure enabling integration of a large number and variety of wired and wireless sensors and cameras with robust communication and control of them. At present, the Blueroof Smart Cottage/R&D Center, YWCA, Salvation Army and two active churches are located in the McKIZ and will remain. Blueroof will build a number of new structures to include the 15-20 single family houses, a small co-op grocery store and a new building for the Blueroof Tech Center. Eight existing homes will be repaired and updated as part of the overall McKIZ's goal.