Five Technology Offerings for Older Adults -- April 2018

April Showers, Innovation and Spring flowers.  Tech companies and their partners continue to propel forward, with new ideas, innovations, products. Consider that April offered up the winners of the Stanford Design Challenge – a computer-integrated bicycle handle with blind spot warning and fall detection and emergency alert. Stay tuned for more innovation events upcoming, including the 2018 Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit in June. Here are the five offerings from April with all material drawn directly from the company's websites:

•  Theora Care Solutions. "Theora Connect™ is a wristwatch-style monitoring and communication device. Theora Link™ is a powerful smartphone application. This Theora Care duo provides a 2-way communications system between wearer and caregiver. Theora Care solutions are ideal for the aging in place populations to live independently, longer. In residential care, a hospital or other places a caregiver isn’t always present, users can benefit from a virtual check in. People with conditions such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Parkinson’s disease can live with more independence. Caregivers know where their loved one is and can reach them almost instantly.” Learn more at Theora Care.

• The Birdsong Tablet.  "A partnership between Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay in Virginia Beach, Virginia is teaming with the French-based company TMM Groupe resulted in the launch of the Birdsong Tablet. “The Birdsong Tablet is pre-loaded with hundreds of hours of music, videos, games, travel and therapeutic content. The device also provides a user-friendly family app that makes it easy for residents and their loved ones to connect with video chat and messaging. Because research shows that smaller screens are difficult for some seniors to see, the tablet is available in 21, 18 or 10-inch screen sizes." Learn more at Westminster-Canterbury.

• TruSense Releases First ‘Smart’ Personal Emergency Response (PERS) Pendant.  "TruSense Home uses sensor and GPS technology to discern the way a person lives—time spent sleeping, in the kitchen, or getting out of the house. When a user defined threshold has been exceeded, such as they have been in a room too long, TruSense sends alerts to the circle of people who they’ve chosen to receive custom notifications. The TruSense starter kit includes an Amazon Echo Dot and can be used for caregivers to receive voice activated status updates on how mom or dad are doing, or, alternatively can be kept in the home so older adults can receive voice reminders or call for help."  Learn more at TruSense.

• MedHab Announces Launch of MyNotifi Clip. "This Automatic Fall Detection Wearable is a new addition to its line of MyNotifi® fall detection wearables, the belt-mounted MyNotifi clip. MyNotifi is a fall detection device which automatically detects falls and notifies selected family, friends or neighbors. MyNotifi can be worn on the wrist or clipped to a belt with a Bluetooth link smartphone. If MyNotifi detects that the wearer has fallen, it automatically notifies selected contacts through the MyNotifi app. In addition to fall detection, the MyNotifi app assists in fall prevention with 38 American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) certified physical therapy exercises."   Learn more at MyNotifi.

• Toch Smarturns™ provides stove and kitchen safety for seniors living independently.  "Tochtech Technologies Inc. a Canadian technology company whose mission is to enable a future where seniors can live independently for as long as they choose to, released its first assistive tech product, Toch Smarturns Utilizing the Internet of Things (IoT), motion sensor, wireless and patent-pending technologies, the Smarturns™ solution involves replacing existing stove knobs with the intelligent knobs that are able to track when a stove has been turned on and off." Learn more at Toch Smarturns.