Three years ago,Mrs Farsund was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
As the condition deteriorated, Mr Farsund began looking for a system that could help both of them live as normal a life as possible.
He stumbled across healthcare technology company Abilia, which has come up with just such a network.
At the centre of the system is a wall-mounted iPad-like device. The screen has Skype, which allows allows carers to regularly check in with patients.
It also has a planner for patients or carers to record up-coming events and provides spoken reminders about daily tasks, such as when they need to take medicine.
Some 1,000 people now have the system installed in their homes, and 25 of them, including the Farsunds, are testing the latest version, which combines the screen with wirelessly connected sensors.
The motion sensors know if you are in the room or open a door, and send out alarms, for instance if the stove is left on for more than 15 minutes or a person opens a door in the middle of the night.
The second is a particular issue in Oslo, where sub-zero winters mean some Alzheimer's patients are freezing to death.
With this kind of system, it allows people to take care of themselves, which is the most important thing," says vice president Oystein Johnsen.
"It also saves the government money. In Norway it cost one million Norwegian krone per year [£100,000] to have someone in a home, this system costs 15,000 a year. That is a lot of money to save."
For him, any move to improve city life needs to begin with people.
"Smart cities are coming and they need to start with individuals in their own home," he says.
As governments begin to use technology to improve city life, the older generation should be top priority, says Intel futurist Steve Brown.
"We have an ageing population and a lot of old people are now living in our cities, so we need to start building technology that makes it easier for them," he says.
"We cannot build enough hospitals to deal with the ageing wave of people, so there has to be a rethink about how do you help them to live at home.
"It is possible now, just from people's movements and habits to detect, for example, the early signs of Alzheimer's."
Source: Reuters
