The negotiated role of smart technology in older adults’ home-environment interactions: evidence from daily rhythms in urban housing

Aging in place increasingly unfolds in urban housing where established routines coexist with smart technologies, but it remains unclear how such technologies become involved in the spatial and temporal organization of life. This study examines the role of smart technology in older adults’ home-environment interactions. Using 24-hour event logs from 30 independent-living retired older adults in Chengdu, China, the study combined structured observation, diary markers during observer-excluded periods, and next-day verification interviews. A total of 2,845 timestamped events were coded by behavior, location, technology type, node type, and trigger type. Node-based indicators of routine structure and pacing were derived, and primary inference used participant-level paired summaries to account for clustering. Results showed that smart technology was frequently present in activities but less often initiated routine transitions. Smart-triggered nodes were associated with longer subsequent spacing than manual-triggered nodes. Smart-triggered initiation was concentrated in bedrooms and living rooms and remained rare in several task-dense or transitional locations. Verification interviews indicated that notifications were often deferred, while automations were adjusted to restore situational fit. Overall, smart functions operated less as generalized automation than as contextually negotiable cues. These findings provide situated evidence for space-sensitive smart housing design for independent-living urban older adults.