How can knowledge about social vulnerability in urban neighborhoods help civil protection? What role can smart homes play in warning the population during crises? Researchers from PEASEC and emergenCITY are working on these questions and presented their findings last week at the BBK conference in Bonn.
From February 5 to 7, 900 experts from science, research, administration, and practice gathered at the “Research for Civil Protection” conference, organized by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), to discuss key topics related to civil protection and civil defense. The event took place for the second time since 2023 at the World Conference Center in Bonn.
The four scientists Markus Henkel (PEASEC), Nadja Thiessen, Joachim Schulze, and Frank Hessel from emergenCITY presented their research results.
Smart Homes as a Warning and Emergency Aid
Markus Henkel provided insights into his research on smart homes under the title “Smart Homes as an Addition to the Warning Mix.” The study explored how intelligent homes can contribute to crisis warnings and disaster response, investigating in which hazardous situations people would rely on their smart home’s warning system.
To analyze this, the researchers simulated different hazardous scenarios in an energy self-sufficient smart home, the “eHUB”, located on the Lichtwiese campus of TU Darmstadt. Their results showed that the greater the danger, the more willing people were to allow the smart home to autonomously take action—such as automatically closing windows and doors.
“While individual devices like smoke alarms warn residents about specific dangers, integrating them into comprehensive smart home warning systems offers greater security, as components can respond to threats based on predefined protocols,” explains Markus Henkel, a scientist at the Science and Technology for Peace and Security Research Group (PEASEC) at TU Darmstadt.
Interdisciplinary Program
“I was impressed by the interdisciplinary program, which included experts from various disciplines and combined scientific and practical perspectives,” says Markus Henkel. “The insights from BBK employees working on early warning systems were particularly valuable.”
For more details, see the full article published by emergenCITY here.