Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the questions families ask first. If yours is not here, the overview links to the fuller pages.
Is it recording my relative all day?
Cameras capture still images of the rooms they cover, and those images are kept on a computer in the home, not in the cloud. The system looks at them to track presence and notice routine changes. It is not a live feed that a family member sits and watches, and there is no outside company holding a recording of the day.
What happens if the internet goes down?
The core keeps working. Recognition, scene understanding, and routine-change detection all run on the home computer, so they do not need the internet. The features that do reach outside, Telegram alerts and the voice companion, pause until the connection is back. See privacy and trust for the full split.
Can it call 911 or send an ambulance?
No, not on its own. It notifies the people you choose, and it can hand off to other systems you have connected, but the decision to summon help stays with a person.
Will it take over my parent's routine?
No. The system reminds and alerts, but it never acts for the senior. It will prompt someone to take their medication; it will not administer it. Keeping those small decisions with the person is a deliberate part of the design.
Who can see the data?
Only people you grant access to, on your own system. Access is controlled by keys tied to specific roles, so a caregiver, an admin, and a device each see only what their role allows. There is no public page and no shared cloud login.
Can the senior turn it off or push back?
The senior is meant to stay in control of their day. Reminders are prompts they can ignore, the wall display and speaker are ordinary household devices, and the companion only talks when spoken to or when it has a gentle check-in. Cameras should cover shared spaces, never bedrooms or bathrooms.
How much does it cost?
The software is free and open-source. The cost is the hardware: a home computer with a recent NVIDIA graphics card, one or more cameras, and any optional sensors, displays, or speakers you add. The is this right for us? page lists what a starter setup needs.
Do we need a technical person?
Yes, to set it up. It is not yet a plug-in product. A technical family member or a care organization can stand it up, and the family can then use it day to day. The is this right for us? page covers this split.
Words you will see
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Signal | A noticed change in routine, like a long bathroom visit or unusual nighttime movement. The system flags it for a caregiver to look into. |
| Alert | A message sent to a caregiver, ranked emergency, warning, or info. |
| Reminder | A gentle prompt for the senior, like a medication or mealtime nudge. |
| Presence | Whether someone is in a given room right now. |
| Sundowning | A common late-day restlessness in people with dementia. The system can flag when an evening is more restless than usual for that person. |
| Companion | The voice assistant the senior can talk to and that reads out reminders. |
| Local or on-premise | Running on a computer in the home rather than in the cloud. |
Next steps
- Start with the overview if you have not yet.
- Read privacy and trust for how data is handled.