Frequently asked questions

Rembient is an Australian ambient home awareness system for older people who live independently, and for the family who help them. Small sensors learn that person’s usual daily routine, and rembient tells their Carer Group in plain words when the routine changes. It isn’t a medical device, a personal alarm or an emergency service.

No. There are no cameras and no microphones in a rembient home. The sensors only notice movement in a room, a door opening or closing, and whether an appliance like the kettle drew power.

No. Nothing is worn, pressed or charged, and they don’t need a phone or an app. The sensors work in the background while they go about their day.

No. Rembient doesn’t detect falls. It isn’t a medical device or a personal alarm. It notices when a day looks different from usual, such as no kitchen activity by the time she’s usually in the kitchen, but it can’t tell you why.

Short notes in plain words, each showing what’s different and what it’s compared with. For example: “No kitchen activity yet today. She’s usually in there by nine.” Some notes are about one day; others describe a slower change across a week or a month.

It spends the first few weeks learning your parent’s usual routine before it says much at all. Your parent is only ever compared with their own usual days, never with a standard, and a usual weekday is learned separately from a usual Sunday.

No. It’s designed so that most days you hear nothing. It will sometimes be quiet when you’d have wanted to hear, or speak up over nothing much. When a note turns out to be nothing, you can mark it “All good”, and that helps us tune rembient.

The app tells you that the home has stopped reporting, so a gap in information is never mistaken for a quiet day. Rembient needs Wi-Fi in the home, and the sensors run on batteries.

Yes. Everyone who helps joins the same Carer Group and sees the same notes, so nothing is hidden between siblings. When one of you is following up, the others can see that, and when someone marks it all good, everyone knows it’s handled.

Rembient is designed so she can carry on exactly as before, with nothing to look at, wear or answer. It doesn’t see or hear anything; it only notices movement in a room, a door opening or closing, or an appliance going on. She agrees before anything is installed.

Start with what they care about, such as staying in their own home for as long as possible without you fussing, rather than with your worry. Tell them what goes in the house and what doesn’t, and make it clear the decision is theirs.

Yes, if she manages her own day in an independent living unit. The family holds the account and receives the notes; the village doesn’t see anything and isn’t asked to respond. It isn’t designed for serviced or residential care.

Not today. We’re exploring an optional, friendly AI wellness call for parents who would like one, but it isn’t available yet.

It isn’t on sale yet. We expect the Essentials pack to be a one-off $299 for the hub and sensors, plus $49 a month for the rembient service and carer app, with as many people in your Carer Group as you like. For larger homes and detecting more routines, the Premium pack is expected to be $449 plus $59 a month. All prices are in AUD including GST, may change before launch, and joining the waitlist is free.

Not yet. Rembient is running a pilot with homes in Greater Sydney. You can join the waitlist from anywhere in Australia to hear when it’s available.

We don’t know yet. We’re asking the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing whether rembient can be funded through Support at Home, either through the Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme or as an ongoing service, and we’ll update this answer when we hear more.

Only the people in your Carer Group can see your parent’s readings, and nothing is sold or shared with advertisers, insurers or data brokers. Data is stored in Australia.

The rembient hub plugs into a power point and connects to the home’s Wi-Fi, and the sensors go in the main rooms and on the front door. Installation shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes.

The sensors run on standard batteries that last between 1 and 5 years depending on how often the sensors are triggered. The app lets the Carer Group know when a battery is getting low.

You tell us about pets when you set up. A pet’s movement becomes part of the home’s usual pattern, so each day is compared with a normal that already includes them.

You tell us during setup if your parent lives alone or not. Dual-occupancy movement becomes part of the home’s usual pattern, so each day is compared with a normal that already includes them.

Anyone in the Carer Group can add a plan saying she’s away, and rembient holds its notes for those days rather than treating a quiet house as a worry.