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Tools for Living Ltd.
Presents
"The companion"
Elderly people, as a section of the population, have benefited least from the domestic availability of computers.
This is particularly true for the generation currently in their eighties, with the relatively rare exception of some
"Silver Surfers", has no computer literacy and often a real fear of and antipathy to computing.
The "Companion", is a device, which overcomes the fear and opens up a variety of services and resources, which
would normally be accessed by means of a desktop or laptop computer. It achieves this by utilising a barcode reader
as the ONLY input device, no keys, buttons or switches, and by speaking in a readily understandable voice
Typical hand held barcode reader.
The reader is shown against a background of a barcode catalogue produced in conjunction with Somerfield
Supermarkets, who are committed to Home Delivery. The shopping items are spoken as they are selected
and displayed as text on the screen. There are facilities for having the whole list read back, adding or deleting
items and finally sending it to the shop. The commands to carry out any of these actions are also printed in
the form of barcodes on the catalogue. What is actually sent is an email. In principle this shopping function can
be extended to any number of shops. A number of different payment options are available.
Trials undertaken by Dr. Mary Breeze have shown, first in a Day Centre and more recently as part of a
home-shopping pilot trial undertaken by the Bristol City Council, that a barcode reader is almost universally
acceptable by our client group. It has the advantage that it takes little skill, will work with arthritic fingers and
is perceived as being fun to use, because of the satisfying bleep, which indicates that a code has been read
satisfactorily.
What follows are descriptions of other functions; some exist experimentally, while others are concepts. Almost
everybody who has been brought into contact with the Companion has been able to think of additional applications,
relevant to their sphere of action.
It is important to realise is that the Companion is a PLATFORM incorporating a fairly powerful computer.
It is therefore possible to perform almost any activity which a desktop computer can perform, PROVIDED
that the application is configured in such a manner that commands and any information read into the device
can be made to exist in the form of a barcode, and that a spoken output in conjunction with text appearing
on a screen is appropriate for communication with the user.
A recent version of the Companion
- Identifies and reports the arrival and departure of care staff or
authorised trades men
- Identifies medicines and speaks its purpose and when it is to be
taken.
- Selects any item from a catalogue and composes a shopping list
- Reminds people by voice and text, to take their medicine
according to a schedule deposited in the Companion by the Pharmacist. A
simple accessory plugged into any mains socket will repeat the reminder
in any room in the home.
All these functions and many others can be performed in an
interleaved manner;
no changing of programs is required.
Home Monitoring
Tools for Living Ltd., under license from Brunel University, has produced pilot quantities of a home monitoring system developed under the name
of "Millennium Homes". Similar software and sensor systems are now being applied as an add-on feature to the Companion, using the built-in
computer, voice system and communication facilities. Whenever a hazard is detected, the Companion will "negotiate" with the occupant of the
home to try to remove or avoid the hazard. Only if the negotiation fails will the system place a telephone call, or send an email to a Social Alarm
Centre asking for help.
Support of People with Learning Difficulties.
Voice prompts depending on time, the occurrence of any single or combination of sensor inputs, the ability to speak barcode labels (attached to
appliances or instructions), or to invoke longer voice and/or image files in response to a barcode instruction, all have a part to play, in this
application.
Tools for Living Ltd. Is currently in contact with a number of local authorities, housing associations and individuals, interested in making use of
some or all of the functions of the "Companion". The company is interested in further contacts, with the objective of setting up pilot systems, or
developing further applications. The hardware to implement such schemes would have to be bought by the organisations or individuals, but there
would be support both from Tools for Living Ltd. and the Brunel Institute for Bioengineering, at Brunel University, to implement such schemes.
Read what the media said about the companion (BBC Article).
For more information contact:
Prof. Heinz Wolff
Tools for Living Ltd
Brunel University
Uxbridge
Middlesex
UB8 3PH
Tel. 01895 266922
Fax 01895 274608
Email us at info@toolsforliving.ltd.uk
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