Kemuri was founded with a vision of helping older people to live independently by daily unobtrusive monitoring without changing their daily routines

Where did the name "Kemuri" come from?

Picture the scene - a row of terraced houses in a small town in the UK 150 years ago. It's a friendly time, where every front door is left open, everyone knows everyone on the street, everyone looks out for each other. There's no electricity or national grid yet, so every house would light up their stove in the morning to cook breakfast, heat water and heat the house. Every house in the row would therefore have a plume of smoke coming out of the chimney.

Terraced houses

If one house in the row doesn't have smoke coming out of the chimney, it means there's perhaps something amiss. Without having to intrude on someone's personal space it is an indicator that maybe someone should pop round and see how the person is.

Kemuri wants to replicate this; the smoking chimney as an indicator that everything's OK in the house in a passive way that doesn't intrude on peoples' lives.

The word "Kemuri" is a Japanese word, 烟, for "smoke".

Kemuri allows people outside the house to know that a person inside the house is moving around, drinking, eating and keeping warm. Kemuri checks every hour and gives peace of mind all throughout the day, without intruding in any way. Kemuri brings the smoking chimney into the digital age.