It’s a bold claim, but a Japanese company called Terumo claims to have developed a special type of sock that can stop shuffling seniors from tripping over low obstacles like rugs or the edge of carpets. The secret is a custom sewing technique that causes the wearer to feel an upward pull on the front of their feet, which in turn helps shift their center of gravity back towards their heels, improving balance.
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Commercial catchphrases like “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” have become the stuff of legend, but it’s not funny when one of your grandparents have been in that same situation.
University of Waterloo alumni Jaclyn Konzelmann and Perry Haldenby have been there with their own grandparents, and after discovering that most senior monitoring systems are terribly limiting they decided to take a stab at it themselves. Enter Amulyte, a YC-backed startup trying to build a smarter sort of lifeline for the elderly.
“All these devices are tied to a base station using 30-year-old technology,” Konzelmann said. And that’s fine when the person wearing them remains within the confines of their home, which is what most of these sorts of monitoring systems are equipped for. But what happens if grandpa wants to go for a leisurely stroll? Or, heaven forbid, visit a friend?
As far as the team is concerned, he should be able to grab a $99 (if you preorder) Amulyte and be on his way. The company’s eponymous gadget is a small pendant that can be worn around the neck or stowed in a pocket, and while it looks simple enough, there’s quite a bit going on inside. The Amulyte sports a cellular radio, Wi-Fi and GPS modules, an accelerometer, a micro-controller to keep all those bits running in harmony, and (most importantly) a battery will keep the thing running for up to a week. The final version of the device will also include an integrated speaker and microphone to allow for two-way communication, but at the moment the team is still trying to squeeze those components into the Amulyte’s tiny frame.
Of course, all those components are hidden away from users — all they see is a big ‘help’ button right smack in the center of the Amulyte. Once that button gets pressed, the Amulyte immediately starts reaching out to preset emergency contacts by calling and texting those people one by one until everyone knows what’s going on. Should things get really serious, Konzelmann says the Amulyte can also call emergency service providers, though the team is still trying to figure out where that call should fall in the chain of contact.
The Amulyte also has some quantified self tendencies, as it tracks the wearer’s activity levels and location (even when in doors thanks to some clever Wi-Fi positioning). All of that data is uploaded over that wireless data connection in real time so a predetermined list of caretakers can remotely keep tabs on their loved ones and take action accordingly.
As is often the case with a lot of these connected hardware startups, the team isn’t looking to make much money of the Amulyte itself — Konzelmann says the cost of the device “essentially” covers its bill of materials. Instead, interested users will have to shell out $30 per month for those cellular and voice connections, as well as gain access to Amulyte’s online monitoring portal.
Amulyte isn’t the first startup to tackle the senior-sensing problem: Virginia-based BeClose pulled back the curtain on its own in-home monitoring system last year, while the team at Lively tried to crack the code by tracking objects around the house instead of people. Still, the pair have cooked up one of the few monitoring schemes that can keep tabs on seniors wherever they go, and opening up that backend to multiple caretakers means that loved ones and professionals always have access to the same information is an awfully smart move.
Sadly, you won’t be able to get your hands on an Amulyte for at least a few more months. Konzelmann and Haldenby are still refining the pendant’s design and testing a batch of prototype models (see above) with a local retirement home, and while early feedback seems to be positive, they don’t expect the first consumer-ready units to hit doorsteps until early 2014.
Softbank announced that they will release a simple smart phone “Softbank 204SH” manufactured by SHARP and targeted to seniors. Release date is in May or later.
The 4 inch LCD display shows bigger letters and icons in order for smartphone beginners or senior to use it easily. To prevent incorrect operation, when users touch an icon they want to control, a blue circle will show up on the icon and they will feel a vibration through the tip of their finger. Other functions include an application that starts phone functionality by saying the name of the function that users would like to use (such as “camera”) and one that reads text out loud for people who have a hard time reading the text.
SoftBank will provide service for “204SH” users at a reasonable fixed monthly packet data charge of 2,980 yen.
Size: 64×128×12.0mm
Weight: 130 g
Color: Silver, Pink, and Navy
Platform: Android 4.0
Japanese electronics company Fujitsu has taken its time pushing beyond its home smartphone market. The company is best known for slick, slender high end smartphones in Japan but earlier this month it announced a European play — eschewing the crowded top tier of devices in favour of a niche in the seniors space, with a custom skinned Android-based smartphone. The Stylistic S-01 is designed to be easier for older people to use. Fujitsu is bringing the device to France in partnership with France Telecom/Orange in June but was showing it off at Mobile World Congress, where we went hands on.
Now Fujitsu is not the first to enter the senior mobile space. Other established players include Emporia, which basically makes simplified feature phones, and Doro, which makes a mix of devices (including dabbling in tablet software). Doro was showing off its own Android-based seniors phone at MWC last year so, again, Fujitsu is a follower here too. But late to the party though it is, it has crafted what feels like a solid and well thought through first offering.
The handset has a rubberised coating to add grip and more curves than the sleek, slick high end smartphones du jour so rests nicely on the palm and feels less inclined to take a tumble than the average slab phone. On the front, there’s a clearly labelled home button below the 4 inch touchscreen. The button is slightly convex making it stand out so it’s easy to press. The buttons on the side of the device — power and volume up & down keys on one side, plus a dedicated camera key on the other — are also labelled (albeit with icons). These keys are raised slightly but don’t feel like they stick out enough to press accidentally.
Fujitsu has made the Stylistic S-01′s capacitive touchscreen deliberately less sensitive to cut back on erroneous key presses for a target group of users which isn’t likely to be as dexterous as the average mobile owner. The screen didn’t feel awkwardly unresponsive during my hands on but on-screen buttons did sometimes need a more deliberate press — which seems like a reassuring feature for the intended user-base.
There are a couple of odd hardware touches. The Micro USB port sits behind a cover which has to be prised off with a fingernail. The cover has likely been included because the phone is dust and waterproof but it does mean that accessing the charging port isn’t as easy as it could be.
The phone is also equipped with an alarm — in case of emergencies. This makes a loud noise to alert people in the vicinity that the owner is in trouble and also dials out pre-chosen contacts. The alarm is located on the back of the device, to the left of the camera lens. The physical switch is rather small and again has to be pushed out with a fingernail or similar. Of course it’s no good having the alarm go off accidentally but in an emergency it could prove a little difficult to activate.
Moving on to the software, this is where the phone really stands out from the Android crowd, thanks to a simplified custom UI that foregrounds key functions, tucks away complexity and does a spot of thoughtful hand-holding — with help buttons and guides and even a phone manual included on the device. The homescreen is divided up into large, clearly labelled icons that decrease in size as you scroll down to reach functions that are likely to be accessed less. The two largest buttons are the call button, and the phonebook (a much more senior-friendly way to describe contacts).
Messages and email also appear on screen at the top of the homescreen, along with three numbered buttons that can be pre-set with specific functions for quick access. Scroll further down and there’s an info widget displaying news updates and weather. Below that, there are a variety of phone functions laid out in a grid of squares — and again clearly labelled. These include Internet, camera, maps, video, gallery, a help forum and a manual. The only button that stands out as slightly obtuse is the one labelled ‘Play Store’ (thanks Google).
Android apps can be downloaded to the phone via the Play Store, or via a ‘download apps’ button. Other preloaded apps are tucked away under ‘More applications’ and ‘Orange services’ — so although the phone has been simplified, the functionality has not been removed entirely. Rather they are cleared out of harm’s way until the user feels confident enough to drill a little deeper.
There are lots of thoughtful little touches in the design, such as the Phonebook app being made to resemble a traditional filofax, and the button called ‘My number’ to help users out who can’t remember their phone number. The gallery also includes a ‘Take a picture’ button, to steer anyone who went into the gallery looking for the camera in the right direction. The back button is also clearly labelled with the word ‘back’ — rather than having a cryptic symbol to confuse people. And the browser has a question mark button at the top which leads to a help page to explain the browsing process for first time mobile web users.
Elsewhere apps are nicely stripped down, simplified and clearly labelled — such as the camera app, which has just a camera button and a flash toggle button, and the dialler app which has two folder-style tabs to show either a dial option, or history (for call log). Time has clearly been well spent by the UI designer figuring out an intelligent way to layer a smartphone for a senior user-base that will probably feel most comfortable taking small steps away from telephones in order to get to know smartphones.
Adding features to a senior-friendly phone kind of defeats the purpose, but a sleeker design, improved battery life and boosted speaker? Sure, we’ll take it. That’s what you’ll get with the new Jitterbug Plus, a bare-bones mobile phone for users who really only need to make and receive calls, and perhaps check the occasional voicemail. Manufactured by Samsung, the no-frills r220 includes an incredibly straightforward interface, with clearly marked Yes and No button options and large, backlit keys, including a panic button that puts you in touch with a 5Star Urgent Response agent. This latest model also adds a very basic 1.3-megapixel camera, which lets you post photos to Facebook with the touch of a button (you’ll need to forgo the Instagram filters, though). The Jitterbug Plus is available now in red or silver for $99 at retailers like Best Buy, Radio Shack and Fry’s, along with the company’s online store, however pricing is expected to jump to $119 shortly after launch. Overall, the device appears to be a great choice for seniors, though CNET called the phone “overpriced” in its review, which you’ll find at the link below.
GreatCall outs Samsung-made Jitterbug Plus, for folks who want a phone without all the smarts originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Jul 2012 01:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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