These Startups Are Helping Improve The Lives Of Older People With Tech

Many people, including pensioners, find it difficult to perform basic online tasks, as revealed by a study conducted by Age UK. With the changing of essential services to mainly digital platforms, this presents a serious problem.

On the brighter side, there are tech products, platforms and startups that are stepping up to address this issue. These companies are creating technologies that are specifically designed to help older adults navigate the digital world. From easy-to-use interfaces to personalized tech support, these startups are making sure that everyone can participate in the digital age.
 

Famileo

 

 
Famileo – the first newsletter all about your family – brings all generations together. Through an easy-to-use app, multiple family members can add photos and messages, which are then compiled into a personalised newsletter that is printed and posted to their loved-ones – monthly, weekly, or as often as you wish.
 

 
Helping families to stay in touch, no matter the time zone or distance between them, Famileo brings digital and traditional communication together, and is a great way for younger generations to stay connected with their parents and grandparents in the online age.

A subscription is just £5.99 a month for the whole family to use (up to 60 members per account). Once registered, there is even a ‘family kitty’ feature, allowing everyone to chip in with the subscription payment to avoid the onus falling one just one family member.
 

RolllerMouse Pro

 

 
With many of us now working from home and at a screen all day, the RolllerMouse Pro is ideal for protecting against RSI or for those with arthritis or mobility issues. This ergonomic mouse ensures that the hands are centred, and the wrist maintains a natural angle at all times, avoiding the ‘bended’ angle, which is the case when working with an ordinary mouse.

These things together ensure that a worker avoids the harmful strain on elbows and wrists as well as shoulders and neck. It operates the cursor via a scroll bar that is centred in front and which allows for precise cursor control without having to move the hand back and forth and has a panel located in the middle, from which the buttons can be operated to copy and paste or navigate back and forth.

The 6 buttons on the panel can also be tailored to the user’s needs and dedicated to the most frequently used shortcut functions. It is just as easy to change click sounds, cursor speed and click resistance.
 

Joy for All Companion Pets

 
 

 
 
What comes to mind when you hear the word “toy”? According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary a toy is “an object for children to play with” and/or “an object that you have for fun or pleasure rather than for a serious purpose”. But often and up until now the benefits of toys for the elderly have been mainly overlooked.

Benefits of play for the elderly include reduction in feelings of depression, social isolation and loneliness, as well as increased cognitive activity, capability, and a sense of purpose among older adults.

Now, according to Forbes, “the toy industry is waking up to a potential goldmine niche market – playthings for golden agers” in a trend dubbed “eldertainment”.

One company leaning into the power of play for the elderly is Ageless Innovation and its range of Joy for All Companion Pets. Ageless Innovation’s mission is to positively impact the lives of older adults and their care partners through the Power of Play.

The brand’s innovative products help alleviate leading issues including social isolation, loneliness, & cognitive decline, by delivering joy, fun and happiness to improve quality of life.

The interactive robotic pets are designed to look, feel and sound like real pets without the additional stress that pet ownership often comes with. The range of cats, dogs and birds have been proven to provide the elderly and those with dementia joy, companionship and a sense of connection they may otherwise be lacking.

Customer reviews praised the Joy for All pets’ unique ability to engage, delight, enhance meaningful connections, provide companionship, calm, sooth and most importantly promote happiness. These published testimonials caught the attention of academics and clinicians leading to multiple independent research projects intended to measure and quantify the impact of the Joy for All products on loneliness, isolation, Alzheimer’s and all forms of dementia. It became clear that 100% focus on the older adult population was required to maximise impact and achieve scale in this growing market.
 

‘AI-Sense’ Smart Washing Machine

 
 

 
 
Grundig, a leading innovator in home appliances, has launched its latest product in Berlin at the IFA 2023 trade conference, the ‘AI-Sense’ smart washing machine that is set to revolutionise the consumer washing machine experience with its blend of aesthetics and sustainability, offering an unparalleled user experience.

Powered by AI, Grundig aims to challenge the status quo among washing machines by offering consumers a smarter and more satisfying washing experience. The new product includes a series of smart features and offers the consumer simpler and need-oriented programs comprised of: ‘Delicate,’ ‘Express,’ ‘Eco’, and ‘Intense,’ which are designed according to typical washing behaviours.

Thanks to smart sensors integrated into the washing machine, fabric type, load amount, soil, and rinse level are detected automatically.

Approximately 28% of the product’s weight consists of recycled content. With Autodose feature which provides liquid detergent usage, the product has 32% of lower carbon footprint during its lifecycle compared to the base product.

AI-Sense offers consumers a refreshing departure from traditional washing machines by providing key features such as:

Smart Sensor: Thanks to smart sensors integrated into the washing machine, fabric type, load amount, soil, and rinse level will be detected automatically.

Automatic Dosing: Using data from sensors and the Auto Dosing system, AI-Sense will create the most accurate washing steps while optimising detergent, water, and energy consumption.

Automatic Program Selection: After selecting the need of washing result, whether intense, express, or delicate, AI-Sense smart sensors automatically find the optimum program settings, providing a hassle-free approach with a brand-new user experience for consumers.

Energy Efficient: AI-Sense offers consumers 10% more energy saving than A energy class limit.
 

Pipra – AI Tool

 

 
Pipra has developed life-changing AI to prevent postoperative delirium (POD), a condition prevalent in those over 60 who undergo routine surgery, however, a huge 70% of cases go undiagnosed. Also worth noting that with our ageing population, more and more older people are opting for surgeries – the UK’s ageing population accounts for 14.5 million people or 24.4% of the population.

PIPRA (short for Pre-Interventional Preventative Risk Assessment) is a cutting-edge AI-based pre-operative risk assessment tool that assesses the risk of a patient developing POD.

The test uses standard medical data, is web or app-based, and takes less than two minutes to provide a score-based risk assessment. This risk assessment enables doctors, nurses and health services to better personalise their patient’s operative plan and to introduce key clinical interventions to reduce the patient’s risk of developing POD.

Knowing which patients are at risk of postoperative complications can help reduce the incidence dramatically, improving patient outcomes, reducing costs to hospitals and length of stay.

This equates to around £2.85 million being saved per year in net cost savings for a mid-sized hospital. Our solution makes pre-surgical screening and precise risk assessment possible and will thus contribute to decreasing post-op cognitive impairment in elderly people.
 

IRIS Audio Technologies

 
 

 
 
IRIS Audio Technologies is an audio technology company with a mission to enable the world to Listen Well. Our suite of patented products leverages decades of research into the effects of sound on the brain, prioritising focus, productivity, and wellness for all.

By harnessing the science of sound, IRIS Audio dramatically improves how people experience audio across all digital platforms, from video meetings to streaming, podcasts to audiobooks, and multiple sectors including call centres, public services, and motor racing.

This cutting-edge audio technology company with a suite of patented products leverages decades of research into the effects of sound on the brain. its flagship product, IRIS Clarity, uses the most advanced AI to remove background noise from calls. On calls, this product improves business performance, customer experience, and agent wellbeing.

At IRIS, we’re passionate about building the best audio experiences. Our team has worked in the most relevant industries across audio and technology, from music production and distribution to telecommunications and customer experience.

Recently raising $7m in a Series A funding round, we will be driving adoption of our IRIS Clarity voice isolation software and making a global push, particularly in North America, where we see huge opportunity.