More Smart Tech for Elders, Please!

I was chatting with a friend during the pandemic lockdown and our talk went something like this…

Friend: This lockdown is especially tough on our parents, right? They can’t make sense of smart phones and new technology. Plus, we are too impatient when we have to repeat the same instructions over and over again.

Me: Yeah, but I think they can adapt and change. They only need to have the desire to learn. I’ve been reading about the brain and psychology. The brain is an extremely flexible organ. But after retirement, our elders seem to lose their sense of purpose and tend to look at things negatively. (I go on in this way for some time, talking about all that I had read and the power of the mind).

My friend pauses, gathers her thoughts and says: I think we are approaching this from two different directions. Let me give you an example. Smartphones are great technology but they are created, designed and programmed by the young for the young. What comes easily to us is alien technology for elders who have had to deal with basic technology during their time.

A gong went off in my head and I realized my friend was right. My point of view was skewed. I was looking at the entire problem as something that our elders needed to adjust to. But why should they? We are making technology that is so intuitive that kids manage to crack it before any of us do. Younger brains are nimble, wired towards learning and adapting.

So, why aren’t we creating technology that is intuitive to elders? Elders face unique challenges because they are from an age where technology was simple. They only had to deal with the turn of a knob or the press of a button. Why should we expect them to adapt to new tech or remember to upgrade?

Why should we expect them to deal with embarrassment? All because aging means frail voices that are not easily audible or hearing which is not as sharp as it used to be? Why should we expect them to concentrate so hard so that their trembling fingers hit the right buttons? Or learn to double click at the right speed or press a button for the correct amount of time so that the options pop up?

Why should we expect them to remember all these things plus the fact that the entire surface of the phone screen is now responsive? So much so that they have to be careful where they keep their fingers? Why should we expect them to cope with feeling helpless and dependent on intimidating technology? Not all elders can figure out how to use the functions that their smartphones are equipped with?

Curious, I looked this up. There are smartphones with large buttons, easy-to-read resizable fonts, SOS buttons, photo contacts, and sound amplification. There are keys for volume, flashlight, camera and reminders. There are apps that simplify the user experience for the elders, as well tweaks in settings that can make it easier to use a smartphone. How many of us have thought about looking for technology like this to make life easier for our elders?

Hopefully I’m in the minority because I sure hadn’t. Can we go a step further? Create smartphones to give our elders step-by-step audio-video instructions on how to use each function? In a language of their choice? Does such helpful programming already exist and if yes, can we have more people aware about it? For example, I recently came across special heavy cutlery designed for those with hand tremors and marvelled at the smart and thoughtful idea.

Do we have more such tech? More hacks? Can we share and talk more about this, please?

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Image shows a grey-haired lady in blue wearing glasses. She’s grinning while seated on an orange sofa, game controller in her hand gazing at a computer set up. Image Courtesy: People vector created by pikisuperstar - www.freepik.com</a>