Then I will discuss how you would design a product aimed for the sector, which could be used without staff help. This is not particularly difficult, and no different then the staff being trained in any of the other things they do for residents and patients.
MOUSELESS KEYBORARDS FOR ELDERLY HOW TO
The first uses off-the-shelf hardware and freeware, but does require that the staff of these facilities learn how to use the system and be able to set their residents up in front of it when it is time for a call. I'm going to describe two paths to getting this. Yet when I have asked for this I have found myself to be the first person to ask, or found that there are policies against internet use by any but the staff. Ideally wireless to move into rooms for the truly infirm. It's a computer, a webcam, and a megabit of internet. Reading lips can help improve how well you are understood, and physical cues can mean a lot.Īnd so I think it's crazy that senior homes, hospitals and hospices don't come standard with a video call station.
MOUSELESS KEYBORARDS FOR ELDERLY PLUS
Video calls also offer extra human bandwidth, which is a big plus with people who are getting infirm, less strong of mind and hard of hearing.
(Had they had the access in my stepfather's hospital room, I could have had a video conversation at the end he died as I was heading to the plane.) There is also still not internet access in many of the locations you might want ot reach, such as hospital deathbeds and senior homes. And this in turn means they can't readily set up computers, cameras or software. Many seniors, however are unfamiliar with or even afraid of many new technologies, and often in places where it's hard to get them. We're just a couple of years from HDTV level consumer video calling. It's also pretty easy, as is Google's GMail video chat and several other tools. Skype now offers a 640x480 video call if you have enough bandwidth and CPU, which is not far off broadcast quality if not for the mpeg artifacts they have trying to save bandwidth. They may not get to see the grandchildren, great-grandchildren or even children very often, and their lives are often marked by a particular loneliness, particular at senior homes.īut today's videoconferencing tools are getting quite good and will get even better. While videoconferencing may not make sense for everyday use, I think it has special value for contact with distant relatives, particularly older ones who don't travel very much.
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