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The Downside Of Living In A Digital World 
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Watch That Tiny $74 1.5GHz Android-Powered Thumb-Puter In Action Forget the opportunistic naming conventions for a moment, and focus on the tech and potential of the iShoe. Designed Erez Lieberman, a graduate student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, the iShoe could one day help doctors and NASA scientists detect balance problems before a fall occurs. Currently, the iShoe only diagnoses balance issues, but Lieberman theorises that future versions (iShoe 3G?) will actively correct bad balance with sensory stimulation. If you know anything about falls (300,000 hip fractures per year, 24% over 50 die within one year) or what happens when astronauts return home from space (10 days of wobbly knees), the iShoe couldn’t come soon enough.
There’s a fine line between being too lazy to do something and being physically unable to do something, which leads logically to the fact that there are more things in common between the very rich and the very old than you may think. Case in point, this “Neptune Portable Reclining Lift” which lux blog Born Rich deemed worthy for a “Luxurious Bath.” The great thing? This is totally designed for old people too weak to lower themselves into a tub without breaking a hip.
AT&T’s geezerphone, the Pantech Breeze, is designed with the elderly in mind. The Breeze has three big speed-dial buttons, simple menus, a loud speakerphone and large font. Now you can hear Gladys’s mahjong story and read Morty’s steamy text messages from anywhere in Del Boca Vista. A step up from the Jitterbug and the ClarityLife, other mobile phones for the olds, it has a camera to snap pictures of your grandkids, or the carpet while you’re figuring out how to make a call. The Breeze sells for US$70 up front with a two-year contract, or US$155 if you do pay-as-you-go, which is a good option if you don’t know where you’ll be three weeks from now. Bigger pics and press release after the jump. [AT&T]
I thought silver-surfers were one of the fastest rising ‘netted sectors of society, but designer Ben Arent thinks there are technophobic grandparents who could do with a helping hand. His Jive system integrates hardware-based social networking gizmos with a simple router to make everything a bit simpler. The idea is that instead of using a mouse, you simply slot in a physical key to the “Betty” unit and it’ll do the online status updating automatically for you.
Ruth Amos, an 18-year-old student from the UK, has come up with a simple and ingenious device for helping the elderly hobble their way up stairs with as little chance of hip-breakage as possible. Dubbed the StairSteady, it’s essentially a bar that one can hold onto as they walk up the stairs, moving up or down with them while they move and keeping them steady. It’s a bit pricey at US$642 due to the absolutely worthless US dollar, but that’s a lot cheaper than a hip replacement. Kudos, Ruth. [BBC via Popgadget]
If you’re like me, you worry about your momma, even if you’re just runnin’ out to the grocery store. I used to like the Jitterbug, but ClarityLife phone might be what I should get her. It’s got a big screen cuz her eyes aren’t so good anymore, and it’s got an amplifier that brings incoming voices up by 20 dB, cuz her ears aren’t like they used to be either. There’s a one-touch button on the back that will call and send text messages to five pre-programmed names, so if she takes a spill she can call for help. Best of all, no contract. What is my momma gonna do with 800 minutes of talktime? She’ll talk for 800 minutes, but she doesn’t need a phone to do it. Even if you don’t buy her some fancy new old-person’s phone, remember, treat your mother right. [Clarity Products]
So, gadgeteers, this is what we will be reduced to riding around on by the year 2080. Developed by the University of Arnhem-Nijmegen in Holland, the Zimmer SatNav is for either olds, amnesiacs or for people whose sense of direction is so poor that they get lost on their way to the bathroom.
Hey, old people have technological needs too. Or so this concept would have us believe. The idea behind this tablet/pda-ish device is that it uses RFID tracking technology to remind the elderly when to take their meds, when food in the refrigerator goes bad, and what to get at the store to meet nutritional requirements. But if my grandparents’ foray into technology is any indication, this device would do nothing but baffle the elderly mind. [Yanko Design]
In this comic by Roz Chast really sums it up nicely, for grandmas, parents and, let’s be honest, sometimes even ourselves during our darkest moments of troubleshooting.
You know, if your grandma is old and senile enough that you need a twice-daily email letting you know when she last used which appliances and for how long, it might be time to stick her in a home. But Zojirushi has developed a new system that does just that, so you have the peace of mind she hasn’t burned down the house you stand to inherit by leaving the toaster on for too long. ‘Cause if you really cared, you’d just call. [Trends in Japan]
