On the other hand, it's easy to justify solutions for aging Americans with pre-dementia -- that's a large and growing market that will hopefully include me one day. (Live long enough, your brain will go.)
The cognitive state of a pre-demented 75 yo overlaps with that of a young person with cognitive impairment. So all of the solutions described in this article are applicable to our loved ones (emphases mine) ...
Basics - For the Advanced in Age, Easy-to-Use Technology - NYTimes.com
...“The new market is old age,” said Joseph F. Coughlin, director of the Age Lab at M.I.T. ...The companies that are successfully marketing new technologies to older people are not those that have created high-tech ways for seniors to open jars. Rather, they are the ones that have learned to create products that span generations, providing style and utility to a range of age groups...
... Consumers with less-nimble fingers find the large knobs in Honda’s boxy Element easy to manipulate...The rash of accident avoidance technologies — like blind spot detection, lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control (which slows your vehicle down if you get too close to another car) — cross age boundaries in their appeal...
Here are some current technology products created for aging consumers:
... The Jitterbug clamshell phone (www.jitterbug.com), made by Samsung ($147, not including a service plan), does not reveal itself as a phone for older people until it is opened, displaying oversize buttons and large type on the screen. One-touch buttons enable easy dialing of 911 and other emergency numbers. The carrier markets the phone to the elderly with ads that explain that consumers can either dial numbers or ask a Jitterbug operator to do it for them. The company says 30 percent chose an operator’s help.Phone numbers can be manually entered into the Jitterbug or the company can do it for consumers. Full text-messaging will be available next year.
... The Pantech Breeze ($50 with contract), by AT&T, and the Coupe ($30 with contract), by Verizon, are a bit more subtle in that they look more like standard cellphones. They are simplified flip phones with somewhat large buttons, oversize type and three one-touch buttons for emergencies. The Breeze includes Bluetooth capability and a pedometer.
... Later this year, iRobot will market the ConnectR, its “virtual visiting robot,” which will allow people to remotely view and speak to others. With its activities managed from a Web site at a remote location, the robot can be told to travel around a house to make sure that its occupants are safe, to read a story to a child...
TAKE YOUR MEDICINE Another problem of aging is forgetfulness. A number of automated pill dispensers that verbally alert users when to take their medication are available. From Timex, the Daily Medication Manager (www.timexhealthcare.com) holds medication and can alert a user to take dosages up to four times a day.
Med-Time, from the American Medical Alert Corporation (www.age-in-place.com), can be programmed to dispense as many as 15 pills, each up to 28 dosages a day. When the unit beeps, the user turns the device over to release the pills.
The simple moments of forgetfulness may not be able to be eliminated, but their effects can be mitigated.
For those who misplace items, the Loc8tor (www.loc8tor.com), starting at about $100, can find up to seven items. A small tag is attached to an object, which is then registered on the Loc8tor’s main unit using radio frequency. When an item is misplaced up to 600 feet away, the user chooses the item from the list and a series of tones points the user in the correct direction.
Of course, if the main unit is lost, you may never find your keys. In which case, several lock manufacturers offer keyless home entry locks that use fingerprint recognition technology to open a door. Available from such companies as Kwikset and 1Touch, the units, which start at around $200, can authorize 50 or more users depending on the model...
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