Assistive Technologies for Home Tasks and Maintenance

“Smart home assistants like Google Home or Amazon Echo help people with limited mobility use a computer or phone. These devices can perform a variety of routine tasks, such as making appointments, playing music, telling you the weather, making movie recommendations, and answering basic questions the user asks out loud about events, people, or any other data available online.

In addition, people with disabilities can now easily use environmental control devices from the Smart Home category if they can use some alternative method of input, such as the same Amazon Echo. They can remotely control electronic appliances in the home, such as lights, heaters, air conditioners, or, say, electronically controlled doors.

A personal emergency response system is another assistive technology device that can help a person with a physical disability. These devices are usually sold as a bracelet, pendant or clip that attaches to clothing. By pressing a button on the device, a person can alert a chosen caregiver or emergency services in any emergency situation.

For example, the American company eHeart Health Monitoring has developed a personal alarm system that continuously monitors the condition of its “wearer” and its location, and sends all information to family members or caregivers. The system also monitors heart and breathing rate, temperature, activity level, GPS coordinates, body position, and can record falls and send emergency alerts. The eHeart Health Monitoring system also has the ability to send a text message to a family member or caregiver if the user presses the “Help” button.

The system can also be configured to send a message if the user’s heart rate goes outside the safe range. The same messages can also be configured to take into account the user’s blood oxygen saturation level.

For home care and maintenance, something as common today as a robotic vacuum cleaner is an ideal assistive technology device for people with disabilities. They help keep the floors of the home clean and require little to no attention from the user, as they are virtually self-contained from the moment they are installed in the home.

Usually such a device is not considered a technological triumph, but it is greatly underestimated. These robots use local navigation to thoroughly clean their environment. Some of them even use the same navigation algorithm as the robot sappers created for the military.