A fridge that orders food automatically, a mirror that forecasts the weather, or an app that can be used to open the front door while sitting on the couch  – those are just a few things in the Fraunhofer inHaus-Center in Duisburg that four senior citizens had to get used to. The public broadcaster ZDF worked with them for the eight days of shooting – now the exciting experiment can be seen on TV.

Within the framework of the ZDF documentary series ”Digiclash: Der Generationen-Contest”(Digiclash: The generational contest) for KiKA, four internet-sceptic senior citizens spent several interesting days in the Fraunhofer-inHaus-Center in Duisburg. Their task: to overcome various challenges that they are unfamiliar with in the fully networked Smart Home – managing their everyday lives, gaming and cooking were some of the tasks during the eight days of shooting that the seniors were challenged with.

At the end of shooting everyone was fully satisfied – even recording manager Johannes Block: “The inHaus is perfectly suited to take a look at or even immerse into the latest technology and everything related to it. The seniors did everything perfectly. Overall it was a well-rounded performance.” Wolfgang Gröting, manager at the inHaus-Center had the same impression: “The innovations and techniques that we have at the inHaus are designed to be used by everyone – but for digitally inexperienced seniors it is particularly special. But I think they coped very well and enjoyed the advantages that a smart home entails.”

The eight episodes can be seen from September 10^th-13^th 2018 and September 17^th-20^th 2018 at 7:25 pm on KiKA and on demand on zdftivi.de and the ZDFtivi App. The episodes are aired in the thematic context “Respekt für meine Rechte! – Abenteuer digital“(Respect for my rights! – Digital adventure).

Fraunhofer-inHaus-Center

The Fraunhofer-inHaus-Center in Duisburg works with several Fraunhofer institutes and many economic partners on the development of innovative products and systems. In the main focus are always humans and their needs. Innovative systems and products are being developed, tested and demonstrated in the creative think tank with cooperative research and development work in practical application laboratories.