In the near future, houses are going to have sensors placed throughout the house that send signals to their personal robots that let them know if they have sleepless nights or forget to take medication. Like with the Smart House, these sensors are placed stragetically throughout the elder’s house to allow their robot caretaker to know what they need to do or what medications they need to take. This will be linked to a webbased system that allows the human caretaker to monitor their elder and they are notified if anything happens to the elder right as it happens. They can monitor how well they are recovering from surgery or how they are doing on their new perscriptions. Fillia Makedon, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington, said “Technology will let people grow old at home” (Charlotteobserver). Allowing people to grow old in their homes is what every elder wants. They want to be able to still live on their own as they grow older because they do not want to rely on someone else for their care and well being. This system will enable the elders to have the security and comfort of their own home with the saftey and aid of a caregiver on call at all times.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Are electronic devices the future in elderly aid?
EZ Wheeler Cart
The EZ Wheeler Cart will make household tasks easier. The front basket can adjust to any table height and can rotate to a 90-degree angle to allow clothes to be easily loaded into the washer or dryer or for unpacking groceries. There are about 60 seniors testing the prototype in Northeastern Ohio and once they are ready to be released, the EZ Wheeler Cart will be able to help elders do simple chores that take a lot of effort for carrying objects of bending over to load clothes in the washer and dryer.
iShoe
The iShoe insole could help doctors detect balance problems before an elderly person falls down. The original iShoe was a product of NASA astronauts once they returned to Earth because their balance was thrown off. Once perfected by research and developers, the iShoe insole will measure and analyze the pressure distribution of the patient’s foot and report the information via laptop to their doctor. The shoe may also have an alert on it when the person falls but this has not yet been developed. I think this is going to be a useful technology because balance in elders is a big reason to why they hurt their selves and solving those balance issues will save them surgeries for broken bones that happen when they fall.
uBOT-5....The Future
The uBOT-5 is the new robotic assistant technology that will be available on the market soon enough. The uBOT-5 can do everything from call 9-1-1 to remind an elder of their medication to navigate around the house all through electronic commands. It can carry a 2.2-pound package and also offer a virtual visit with a grandchild via computer screen. This best when the elder is bed ridden or cannot make it somewhere because of the condition they are in. Through uBOT-5, doctors can make secure house calls through an internet connection in it. If that is not enough, the uBOT-5 can even apply a stethoscope to the patient and relay important medical information to the doctor or anyone that is taking care of the elder. The uBOT-5 is going to help in so many ways once it has been finalized and released to the market. It is going to help elders move around their house and get household chores done that they cannot do on their own anymore but the uBOT-5 can. The uBOT-5 will also be there at all times when the elder is sleeping and awake because it is on 24-hour watch and can contact someone if something happens to the patient where they need care. This device is going to save numerous lives and is going to make the elderly live easier to live alone.
uBOT-5 in action....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wvWHhDVcxU
Motorized legs??
In 2008, Honda Motor Company designed a humanoid robot to help the elderly walk. This machine helps the elderly who are unable to walk under their own power. It makes it easier for them to walk up and down stairs as well as for factory workers to maneuver around the workshop. This is an addition to the first two-legged walking robot ASIMO, which arrived in 2000. The device only weighs 14.3 pounds and it consists of a saddle, leg-like frames and shoes for the patient to fit snuggly into. The device is suppose to take stress off of the user’s hips when walking around or climbing up and down the stairs by helping to support the human’s bodyweight, Honda said. The main target for this robot is those who are rehabilitating their leg muscles and elderly people who have trouble walking. It also targets the assembly workers who are always in the crouching position and it is suppose to help take the pressure off of their hips and knees.
The use of the robot is easy. There are sensors in the shoes that send signals to the knees to know when to bend when walking. This is the same technology that is in the older version ASIMO. Although there is no release date for this prototype as of yet, Honda is still debating when they should release it and what price they should set on it.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Is the "Smart House" the future of assisted living?
"Smart House" - University of Flordia
At the University of Florida, engineer students have created what they call a “Smart House”. This Smart House consists of a full kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and furnished living room. This set up could be the future of assisted living for elders who do not want to move into an assisted living home. Within the Smart House there are features like a microwave that recognizes what food is put in the microwave and automatically determines how long to cook the food and a computer network that knows where the elder is located at all times by sending signals between the computer network and sensors on her clothes. Other ways it makes living easier for people that have a hard time taking care of themselves is if there is a water spill on the floor then the house senses it and alerts the person via cell phone. It is also possible for the resident to unlock any door in the house through the cell phone. If someone is at the door then the video camera shows the resident a picture of the person outside and they can unlock the door by using their cell phone.
I think this is going to become the new wave of assisted care. No one really wants to depend on someone else to care for them when they are older and this is a way to avoid the assisted care living centers. With the future advances in technology, there will become more improvements to the house and it will become more user friendly. The Smart House is the new wave of the future for assisted living and is soon going to be taking over the assisted living business because people want to become and stay independent.
Computer programs helping with medication purposes?
Computer scientists and human factors psychologists from Georgia Tech University created a ‘technology coach’. This is a program on the computer that makes it easy for the elderly to do hard tasks such as taking their glucose level. Technology coach breaks down the hard multi step task and turns it into a simple and quick task for people who cannot remember or do not have the ability to do it the other way. Brian Jones, a computer researcher at Georgia Tech, said “on the box it says it’s easy as 1-2-3 but when you fold out the list of instructions, it’s actually 53 steps” (Science Daily). How does the ‘technology coach’ work? The technology coach uses optical sensors on an overhead camera so it can tell if the person picks up the wrong bottle or is doing to steps out of order. The computer program then shows the problem and how to fix it right away.
Another program they have created is a program to help people to remember to take their medications. It is still in the process of being perfected but it is called ‘memory mirror’. Memory mirror allows people to monitor what medications they have already taken and what they have not through radio frequency barcodes. The barcodes keep track of what time and what medication is taken. The one major downfall of this program is that it does not force them to take the medication so it still needs to be modified.
Watch the video on how the system works here:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2007/1102-digital_grandparents.htm
Monday, September 22, 2008
Technology Making Life Easier?
As the years go on the advances in computer technology are beyond what anyone could have thought of twenty years ago. Computers are taking over the business world and appearing in homes around the world more than ever before. Computers are not only good to research a issue or find something to purchase, but they are becoming a helpful aid for many people who cannot fend for themselves. Companies such as Intel, General Electric and ADT are focused on building a consumer market around the baby boom generation. Together, “they are developing a variety of computerized systems for seniors, and such technology is an answered prayer for many people. One such solution is the ADT Quietcare system, a home-monitoring system that employs motion and temperature detectors to record the daily activity of seniors living on their own. Twelve times a day, the Quietcare system updates the status of the monitored individual into a central monitoring site, where loved ones can check up on them via the Internet and respond if anything goes awry” (Buzzle). With the rising cost of home health care and the limited options, technology is the new up and coming home health care system. Health care is starting to rely more on computer technology now than ever because it is becoming more cost efficient and it is made easier.
Students are also concerned with helping senior citizens. Students at MIT, EDS, and Rhode Island School of Design created Pill Pet. With the Pill Pet, a fuzzy palm-sized toy animal, if the senior "owner" takes his or her medications regularly and on time, the toy lives. If not, the pet must be taken to a pharmacy for attention. Many elderly people need to take several medications a day at different times of the day and it is hard to remember what pills to take at what time. With the Pill Pet this is made easier for the human while the robot does all the thinking for them. This would lead to less missed doses of medications and longer and better health.
(Pill Pet)
Willingness To Learn
As adults become older our knowledge of technology and all the functions possible are growing. Older adults want to live on their own in their own house without assisted living. With the advances in technology available, this is becoming more of a reality than a dream. With advances in medical technology, such as Telemedicine and Telepharmacy, receiving medications to one’s home is simple. Along with these technologies come many that help the caregiver and elder.
New advances make lives easier for elders and caregivers alike. The CAST study done by AAPR, a nonprofit organization, says that adults 65-years and older would pay up to fifty dollars a month extra to “try technology like home security services, sensors to detect falls and devices to regulate temperature, lights and appliances. But cost remains a factor with seventy-five percent of caregivers and eighty percent of those 65-plus willing to pay $50.00 or less per month for the service” (AARP). These advances consist of: “sensors can detect and notify a caregiver if a person being cared for does not get out of his chair or turn off the stove; Health technologies can monitor blood pressure, respiration and other conditions in real time while the person is at home, reducing the need for doctor's visits and notifying caregivers immediately of significant changes; Medication dispensers provide the appropriate medicines at the appropriate time and remind a person being cared for to take them; Computer games provide social networking, brain stimulation and even monitoring of cognitive abilities through the use of diagnostic games.” With these major technological advances an older adult is able to live by themselves at home but still have the safety and security of a caretaker there with them at all times. Technology has no limit and no boundaries and could take off in any direction. Technology companies know what people want and need to survive on their own, it is just a matter of time until technology replaces humans.