Samsung SmartThings update adds elderly care monitoring with ambient sensing and AI

Samsung has updated SmartThings with family care features that turn connected appliances and wearables into a remote elderly monitoring system. Key additions include Care on Call (pre-call activity summaries), Reassurance Patrol (robot vacuum used for fall detection and two-way communication), Care Insight (environmental and behavioral pattern alerts), and cognitive decline detection via passive behavioral signals like gait, sleep, and typing patterns. The platform uses millimetre-wave radar ambient sensing with local processing for privacy, and integrates Galaxy AI for natural-language routine creation. SmartThings also becomes the first major smart home platform to support Matter cameras as a full device category. The update raises ethical questions around consent, surveillance, and the clinical validity of consumer-grade cognitive screening, with the elder care features expected to roll out alongside the Galaxy S26 launch later in 2026.