Smart Spaces Initiative at Penn State University

The Smart Spaces Center is a University-wide initiative to create interdisciplinary teams of Penn State faculty and strategic partners to perform research that advances what we know about aging, home design, technology, community planning, and public policy to create innovative and practical solutions to enable elders to age in place as long as possible, while maintaining a high quality of life.

What are Smart Spaces? Smart spaces for our elder population can be conceptualized as a set of at least four spaces surrounding the core individual: (1) Smart Personal Space, (2) Smart Living Space, (3) Smart Information Space, and (4) Smart Societal Space. Here, "smart" means that each space is embodied with research-derived adaptations that will better enable elders to age in place.