Researchers Advance Remote Monitoring Systems for the Elderly
[Image courtesy of Michael Mulvey / DMN, thanks Travis]
Posts with tag elderly
[Image courtesy of Michael Mulvey / DMN, thanks Travis]
Allstate Wants to Improve Driving with Video Games
The insurance giant is running a pilot program for drivers over 50 in Pennsylvania that uses a video game developed by Posit Science to increase visual acuity, cognitive skills, and reaction time. Allstate plans on distributing the game to 100,000 customers and comparing the accident rates to a control group of the same age that don't use the game.
Though drivers between 50 and 60 years old have the lowest accident rates, the rate starts to climb after 60. Allstate hopes this will help eliminate or reduced the impact of age-related decline. Lets just hope it also helps our senior motorists find the gas pedal. [From: USA Today]
Wearable Airbags Keep the Elderly Safe From Falls
Elderly? Enfeebled? Just plain clumsy? Tokyo-based Prop has your back. Its newly announced personal, wearable airbag looks like a cool fanny-pack and weighs a mere 1.1 kilograms (2.4 pounds) -- but springs forth in one-tenth of a second when sensors detect you're headed for the floor, protecting your head and ass with two inflated bags that contain 3.9 gallons of gas each. Similar to the various airbag-equipped suits already used by some motorcyclists, the Tokyo Prop's airbag is specifically designed to help the elderly, according to Prop president Mitsuya Uchida. The bag is yours for a cool ¥148,000 ($1,400). [From AFP and Daily Telegraph]
[Thanks, Steve]
Laser-Equipped Windshield Aims to Make Driving Easier
Truth be told, the device is being designed with older drivers in mind, though we don't see why younger motorists won't benefit all the same. Unfortunately, it sounds as if you'll have to keep those toothpicks in your eyelids for a few more years, but at least we're one step closer to full-on autopilot. [Source: CNN]
Robots to Take Over 3.5 Million Jobs in Japan
by Terrence O'Brien, posted Apr 8th 2008 at 5:16PM
This isn't necessarily bad thing for friends across the Pacific. It seems that much of Japan's population is getting older. In fact researchers expect to see a drop in the Japanese work force of about 16 percent by 2030, and filling positions as citizens retire is just part of the problem. The number of elderly people in the country is ballooning, and caring for these citizens may be one of the major industries that robots play an important role in.
The Machine Industry Memorial Foundation doesn't see robots completely replacing humans, but allowing people the time to focus on more important things. Robots could clean house, monitor the health of the elderly, bathe them, read to your kids, and of course, deliver you a beer.
Researchers expect 40 percent of Japan's population to be over 65 by the year 2055, making the robot workforce a pressing concern.
From Reuters
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Toyota and Nintendo Team Up for "Elderly-Friendly" Car
The older people get, the harder it is to drive -- reflexes slow, eyesight goes, and one's level of awareness drops as the years pass. These unfortunate realities of aging can make driving a potentially lethal proposition for those getting on in years (not to mention the drivers around them).
Governments, however, are not about to start confiscating drivers licenses when people are old enough to collect social security, so the challenge becomes how to minimize the danger involved with putting those in their golden years on the road.
Toyota is teaming up with Professor Ryuta Kawashima, who worked for Nintendo to develop the DS hit 'Brain Training,' which uses simple and fun puzzles to sharpen the mind and tell you how old your brain is. Toyota and Dr. Kawashima are working on a system that will monitor the moves of aging drivers and help them avoid dangerous behaviors. The ideas currently on the drawing board are an automatic braking system that can curb unnecessary accelerating, a navigation system (duh) and climate controls that will help keep the driver alert and comfortable.
"Ultimately, we hope to develop cars that stimulate brain activity so that driving itself becomes a form of brain training," Dr. Kawashima says. Toyota and the professor hope to have a basic form of the system ready for deployment within five years. Toyota's system isn't the only game in town, though, that is looking to save some lives by keeping drivers alert, Nissan has been working on its Intelligent Transportation System for some time now.
Nintendo has cornered the market on electronics marketed to the elderly at this point. 'Brain Training' and the 'Brain Age' series on the handheld DS and 'Wii Sports' and 'Wii Fitness' have also proven to be huge hits with older consumers looking to dull the effects of aging.
From Daily Mail
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