Nana Technology - "Technology for our Elders."
Nov 19, 2006

Andrew Carle, an assistant professor at George Mason University
coined that term for all the technology that's being developed and
aimed at your grandmother. Or grandfather. The technology is smart,
easy to use, and can make grandma's golden years have a titanium,
high tech, large type, untangled glow. Here's some of that technology
as described by Janet Kornblum from USA Today (sorry, I couldn't find
a link). Kudos to both Andrew and Janet.

·Smart Pill Dispensers.
Intel is working with Oregon Health & Science University to design
and test a pillbox that works with location sensors to give reminders
at the appropriate place and time. Aurora Health Care in Milwaukee
also has a pillbox ($800 , or leased for $90 a month) that can be
programmed to flash, speak reminders and dispense up to six doses a
day for 10 days. If you miss a dose by 90 minutes, it can call a
caregiver.

·Online Medicine Cabinet.
Accenture, a public company based in Chicago, is developing a
medicine cabinet whose mirror is equipped with a camera and online
computers with face recognition software. It would greet you by name
and tell you when you're about to take the wrong pill, and
automatically order prescription refills. It would come with a blood
pressure sleeve and would use the Internet to call the doctor to
schedule an appointment. The project is a prototype; there are no
immediate plans for commercial production.

·Mailbox alerts.
Several companies have sensors that send an alert when postal mail is
delivered. For most of us, getting the mail is trivial and an alert
would be a convenience, Carle says. But for an older person who looks
forward to mail, knowing when it has arrived could save them from
going outside in heavy weather several times a day. Note: write to
grandma. She loves your letters.

·Balance booster.
Maxwell Smart had a phone in his shoe. One day, people at high risk
for falling will have shoes with technology that helps keep them from
losing their balance. The shoes have insoles that send small
vibrations to the bottom of a person's feet to literally tickle the
neurons to make them more sensitive to the signals they're suppose to
detect, says project developter Jim Collins, professor of Bio-medical
Engineering at Boston University. The technology has been licensed to
Afferent Corp. and should be on the market in about a year, Collins
says.

·Lifeline pendant.
These are pendants that seniors - or anyone with a health problem -
wear around the neck. Pressing a button sends a wireless phone signal
to a central office that can dispatch help. About 500,000 people in
the USA subscribe to the Lifeline service (800-380-3111;
lifelinesys.com).

·Tracking systems.
Several companies are developing tracking technologies for people
with illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease, who are at risk of
wandering and getting lost. At Oatfield Estates, near Portland Ore.,
residents with Alzheimer's are tracked so their location is always
known. The system also can monitor health and social interaction.
Oatfield is developing software for other facilities and individuals.
Other companies, including Viterion TeleHealthcare in Tarrytown,
N.Y., and QuietCare, produced by the Living Independently Group in
New York, also have monitoring systems that can be installed in the
home.

·"Intelligent" phones.
Several places, including Intel, are working on phones for people
with memory problems. The phone Intel is developing uses caller ID to
display a photo of the person calling, the relationship of the
caller, and some notes about their last phone conversation to jog the
memory of the person with dementia.

·Walking aids.
Walkers are being developed that can steer away from obstacles and be
retrieved by remote control, to prevent falls while trying to reach
the walker. And Oregon Health & Science University is developing a
cane that can detect gait, pressure and other warning signs, and
sound an alarm when a person is in danger of falling. When used with
sensors, it also could be programmed to beep when the user gets up
out of a favorite chair, for instance, but forgets where he put his
cane, or to alert caregivers when the user is in danger of falling.

·Computer programs that help cognition.
Several universities are working on computer games that help monitor
the player's cognition, or that can help keep an older person's mind
sharp. Holly Jimison, an associate professor of medical informatics
at Oregon Health and Science University, is testiing a card game
based on the solitaire game FreeCell, in which performance is tracked
over time. If a person is having increased congnition problems, he
won't do as well in the game. The card game also could eventually be
used to tell if certain medications are affecting congnitive
function, Jimison says.

I find all this technology fascinating. And after having dinner last
night with my father who has Parkinson's, I can see how much of it
could be very useful for the elderly or the caregiver. I just hope
that grandma and grandpa have a big wad of cash stashed under their
mattress because it certainly seems like they're going to need it. By
the way, when I'm old, I definitely want one of those remote
controlled walkers.

Source: http://www.untangledlife.com/wibrary/2006/08/10/nana-
technology-as-in-technology-for-grandma/


Sailesh Mishra spreading the word for the cause.

Email- sailesh2000_2000@yahoo.co.uk