Published November 19, 2019

As a community, how do we plan to keep up with the seemingly ever changing advances in technology?

Technology is a term that many of us are familiar with and there is no denying the value it can have on our daily lives. From ordering food, to accessing information that answers our daily questions, technology can be a powerful tool that can help us age with confidence wherever we call home. At Keiro, we understand that older adults in our community all have different relationships with new types of technology. 

There is no such thing as a perfect piece of technology.  We can probably identify a piece of technology that has a design flaw or did not execute what we intended it to do. This can lead to us feeling that new devices are too complicated for us to find value in our everyday lives. But together, we hope to learn how to change the way we look at new types of technology and how they can assist us in our daily lives.

Keiro asked our community members to explore some new devices. We had participants come in with no knowledge of what they were going to be exploring. Participants tried Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Google Virtual Reality (VR).

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For smart home devices, many participants enjoyed the features that allowed them to listen to music or play games. While these devices tend to be known for its features that provide users daily information such as time, date, weather, traffic, and flight schedules, our participants felt it was a challenge to utilize these voice activated features. For example, the devices at times failed to recognize some of the culturally sensitive terms such as sukiyaki. It did take some practice for participants to get familiarized in saying “Ok Google, stop” or “Alexa, stop” in order to go onto the next command. 

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Our participants seemed to enjoy the virtual reality experience, since it provided a chance to visit a location they have never been or have always wanted to go.  By pairing a smartphone with a headset known as Google Cardboard, our participants were able to experience a semi-immersive virtual environment.  Many participants were experiencing Google Cardboard for the first time, and therefore had to overcome a learning curve on how to properly navigate this experience.

One participant commented on how she will need to know how to set-up the devices in order to use them or to recommend to friends. Therefore, when gifting items to a loved one, a friend, or a family member, it is important to assist with training before being able to fully utilize them.

#KeiroChallenge: Try setting up and testing new technology with your loved one, friends, and/or family!

Amazon Alexa

Amazon Alexa is a smart home device that can help with everyday tasks through verbal commands provided by Amazon. The equipment can also be connected to other electronic devices at home as well.

Take a look at our community members using Amazon Alexa: 

For more information on Amazon Alexa, click here (click through link to Amazon site)

Google Home

Google Home is a smart home device that can help with everyday tasks through verbal commands provided by Google. The equipment can also be connected to other electronic devices at home as well.

Take a look at our community members using Google Home: 

For more information on Google Home, click here (click through link to Google Home site)

Google Virtual Reality

Google provides Google Cardboard as a cost friendly option for anyone to enjoy virtual reality. The Google Cardboard, combined with a downloaded application on your smartphone will allow the exploration of different locations around the world as if you are there.

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