Power Up 2019 Assistive Technology Conference and Expo will be held on April 1st & 2nd in Columbia, Missouri. Registration is now open at www.at.mo.gov.
Intended Audiences: Special education teachers and administrators, general education teachers, parents, students with disabilities, transition coordinators, occupational therapists, speech therapists, paraprofessionals and other interested parties.
What makes Voice First special for older adults? This blog has discussed the emergence of Voice First technology -- speech-enabled interactions with technology -- on multiple occasions. But this occasion is different -- it marks the publication of a research effort and resulting report linked here called The Future of Voice First Technology and Older Adults 2018. Today's blog post offers a short excerpt of key differences between Voice First technology and prior tech generations that apply to all users – but are unique for seniors -- future research will continue to explore that uniqueness. So what has inspired multiple organizations, including Benchmark Senior Living and Carlsbad by the Sea, to begin their programs? They see that while Voice First technology is an early market with some (noted) limitations, it also represents, unlike prior technology generations, benefits for users. For users and tech managers, Voice First is:
Technology and Aging – One Full Day Component from IAGG 2017. The International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG) held its World Congress symposia (73 member organizations from 65 countries) last week in San Francisco, "key opinion leaders in health & social services, housing & income support, research & education, public policy, administration & other areas, disciplines, and professions that impact older people and affect their quality of life." As part of the symposia (billed "as the largest world conference on aging"), July 26 was 'Tech Day' and included a pitch event from the following companies. The winner of the pitch event was Kinesis Health Technologies, and the 'people’s choice' winner was Life Assist Technologies. Descriptions are from the companies' websites.
CES 2017 – an overwhelming 'tech-o-rama' that defies categorization. So do not expect insight here about why, where, or what was intriguing to journalists and geeks, including the Wall Street Journal. There will be no discussion of how Vegas may be different in a year where the show, which attracted 175,000, ended on a Sunday. [Rant on] And the Silver Summit at CES is long gone, first replaced by Lifelong Tech in 2015 and then fully absorbed into the Digital Health Summit last year and this year. And there will be no discussion here about why, oh why, do all of the demonstration videos of nearly everything have to limit the viewer imagination to the young people being shown? [Rant off] Okay, there is no existing aggregator source for tech that could be useful to older adults -- spanning multiple categories -- nor to caregivers who care for them, either professional or family. Note that some media articles grouped items: a) tech related to hearing loss, b) tech to assist people with disabilities, and c) an Accessibility Marketplace. In addition to those offerings, here are five that so far caught my eye -- drawn from various sources:
URise Products’ StandUp Walker has been named the Gold winner in the New Product Pavilion at Medtrade 2016. The Providers’ Choice award was voted on by all attendees at the largest Home Medical Equipment Expo and conference in the U.S.
Over 60 new products were featured in Medtrade’s New Product Pavilion during the conference with StandUp Walker taking top honors. StandUp Walker will be featured in the December issue of HomeCare Magazine, the sponsor of the New Product Pavilion and Providers’ Choice award.
What makes Voice First special for older adults? This blog has discussed the 
CES 2017 – an overwhelming 'tech-o-rama' that defies categorization. So do not expect insight here about why, where, or what was 