Advocates for the elderly and for individuals with disabilities, are turning to smart speaker technology to make life better for those they serve. WBGO’s Ang Santos reports from the Voice Summit in downtown Newark, where leaders from two companies discussed the future of such care.
By: Ang Santos
July 25, 2019
Statistics from the US Census Bureau show massive growth in the senior population around the world, with that number expected to double by 2050. In Japan, it’s possible that nearly forty percent of the population will be over the age of 65 in 30 years.
“We just don’t have enough people to care for the older population,” said Derek Holt, president of K4Connect, a startup focusing on technology that empowers older adults and people living with disabilities.
Using Amazon Alexa, the company implemented a system of voice commands that not only makes life more convenient for residents at places such as retirement homes but clears some chores for caregivers already juggling multiple tasks.
Derek Holt, President of K4Connect and Davis Park, Front Porch Executive Director of the Center for Innovation and Wellbeing CREDIT ANG SANTOS / WBGO
“We wanted to teach Alexa about senior living,” Holt said. “To not just control their smart home or call the front desk, but ask what events are today? Request maintenance, request food, understand what the daily specials are, call their neighbor. A whole bunch of really interesting collaborative capability once we taught the technology about the context of senior living.”
Holt says using smart speakers in senior communities has helped residents in ways that may seem like a novelty to others.
“A funny aside you wouldn’t know unless you spend a lot of time in senior living communities, the number one reason people call the front desk is ‘is the mail here?’ By a 3x number over all of the other reasons why they call the front desk,” he said. “So, now they ask, ‘Alexa, is the mail here?’ and Alexa will tell them yes or no based on whether the mail has been delivered.”
Some non-profits have caught on to the potential that comes with voice activated technology. Davis Park is the executive director of the Center for Innovation and Wellbeing at Front Porch, a Southern California non-profit provider of retirement living communities and affordable housing. They created a pilot program used as a case study to judge the effectiveness of smart speakers among the elderly.
