Who Puts the Assistive in Technology?

As part of Buddy we have been immersing ourselves in the world of assistive tech.  A phrase like this would normally conjure up images of Telecare devices – pendant alarm systems designed to alert carers when their service user has an emergency.  Brilliant because they allow the elderly, or people with disabilities or mental health issues, to live more independently but get help when they need it and effective because they allow professional carers to manage their time better.  Useful, functional items that are simple to use but aren’t necessarily designed with aesthetics in mind.

Do an image search on telecare and this is the kind of stuff you will find.

Not the most inspiring collection of products in the world, but you can’t deny their handy things around your home.  But do you reeeeeally want them?

With a little digging around online we’ve started to find some alternative, emerging assistive technologies which are much more exciting, gadget-y, inclusive (anyone could do with having these) and most importantly aspirational and we wanted to share some of these with you.

This heart shaped USB powered glucometer designed by Kenny Hopper helps diabetes sufferers to monitor their blood sugar levels without the faff of going to the doctors.  The method of drawing blood is the same as it ever was but once the user has their reading (they put the test strip in the glucometer) they can then use the USB connection to upload their results immediately to their records online or share them with others.

Jive created by Ben Arent is a concept for a new kind of communication device which makes it easier for the elderly or technophobes to be ’social’ in a digital space without needing to have a computer, a keyboard or even a social media profile.  The resting mode for the screen scrolls through their family and friends feeds from Flickr, Friendfeed and Facebook, allowing them to passively see whats going on.  They have friend keys (like an RFID playing card sized magnet) which they can stick to 3 different spots on the screen to either view feeds specific only to that person, to send them a message or look at their most recent activity.  Each friend or family member has a separate key which pulls in all their activity from their online profiles.

WakeMate is a mobile phone (wrist band) accessory which uses actigraphy (the science of analyzing sleep patterns) to work out the optimum time for you to wake up.  The device syncs with the WakeMate application on your mobile to give you detailed charts on how you slept through the night and how deeply.  The alarm will go off at the optimal point for you to wake up feeling refreshed i.e. when you are gaining consciousness naturally.

The KOTOHANA device has been developed by NEC, NEC Design and SGI Japan.  It’s a pair of LED flower terminals that monitor voice patterns.  When your voice shows that you are unhappy or angry the flowers will change colour in response to this, but the flowers will also change colour on the second terminal which might be at your friend or partners house or office, so they are aware of how you are feeling.  Not ‘exactly’ assitive technology in this sense,  although if it helps you gauge your partners mood and respond in a sensitive way, that’s got to help the relationship right?

We reckon this kind of ambient communication could be put to better use with assistive devices.

Mauricio Melo Design’s ‘Web are you?’ is a networked emoticon device which does pretty much the same thing except you can select the emotion you want to communicate to your partner. These are more ambient technologies, they provide you with peripheral information, so like a sixth sense you are aware of whats going on with those that are important to you, even when you aren’t with them.

We’re not saying these products are perfect, its hard for one device to do EVERYTHING and we’re not even necessarily thinking that this stuff will replace any of the current telecare devices, but we hope it might just up the game.

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