A new device released by Republic Wireless at the beginning of 2018, called the Relay, was designed to provide children with a screenless communication device. The device gives kids more freedom,while giving parents’ peace of mind by providing a way to both locate and communicate with their children without the need for standard phones.
Amazon is launching what it thinks is the next obvious thing in home entertainment. The just-announced 4K Fire TV Cube is part Fire TV, part Amazon Echo, and part TV control center for the other boxes and gadgets you have crowded around your TV. Whereas earlier Fire TV devices required you to summon Alexa through the remote, the Fire TV Cube has Alexa built in. In fact, Amazon says the whole user experience of the Cube was designed with a "voice first" philosophy.
Read MoreThe rise of the smart home assistant has certain consumers spooked that the internet giants are monitoring their conversations, but the truth is far more boring
Read MoreVoice-assistive systems, like Amazon Echo, are likely to play a bigger role in helping seniors age in place, especially when paired with apps geared specifically for senior living.
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A new article published last night by The Wall Street Journal takes a look into how accessibility-focused technology has the "potential to fundamentally change the mobility, employment and lifestyle of the blind and vision-impaired."
Read MoreMicrosoft has unveiled a new Xbox controller with customizable features for disabled gamers.
The company's new accessible device is targeted at users with a range of physical disabilities, and is set to launch later this year.
Read MoreLiveWell RERC development staff recently released an Amazon Echo Skill that will read aloud the latest posts from our two blogs, TechWatch and LiveWell News. The new skill can be installed on the Amazon Alexa app and then utilized on any Amazon Echo product. The skill taps into the RSS feeds from our blogs and is called the LiveWell News Skill. Once enabled, saying the command “Alexa, what’s the news”, or “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing,” will allow your Echo to read aloud the latest LiveWell RERC news feeds. A user will only get information if it has been updated within the past week. The LiveWell RERC developer of the new skill from Duke University, Leighanne Davis, says “The new skill will make the news feeds more accessible and convenient to a variety of users by providing speech output.”
Read MoreCanadabased startup Essential Accessibility is taking steps to make web browsing and accessing online services easier for people with disabilities, and hopes to build out a substantial business with enterprises worldwide.
Read MoreAn MIT startup, Rendever, is providing the opportunity for elderly patients with restricted mobility to experience the outside world through virtual reality.
Read MoreThe LiveWell RERC invites you to participate in the 2017 Survey on Remote Health and Technology.
Read MoreThe LiveWell RERC invites you to participate in the 2016 Survey of User Needs for Information Communication Technology, or SUN-ICT.
Read MoreCheck out five examples of IoT user interfaces in which manufacturers have moved beyond the typical screen to a more revolutionary UI approach.
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TODAY WE GOOGLE for information, but in the future, we might not need to. Instead we may rely on our butler, namely the intelligent, voice-activated digital assistant on our smart phones, smart watches, or devices like Amazon’s Echo and Alphabet’s Home. Rather than searching the web, we’ll be able to ask our digital assistant how to remove the stain from our shirt. It’ll perform other perfunctory tasks, like adding groceries to our shopping list, checking the weather, sending a text, or ordering an Uber.
Read MoreWhen most people think about wearable technology, Fitbits and Apple Watches come to mind. While these are devices have been game-changers, the world of wearable technology is so much larger - and it’s getting bigger every day.
Read MoreOver the past few years, we've covered a number of health apps that we believed put patients at risk through dubious claims about what they can measure or treat. In 2014, we detailed an app called Instant Blood Pressure, which claimed to measure blood pressure just by having users put the microphone over their chest and finger over the camera. About a year after our initial article, it was pulled first from the Google Play app store then the iTunes app store. And earlier this year, a study conducted by some of my colleagues at Johns Hopkins showed Instant Blood Pressure to be highly inaccurate and detailed how those inaccuracies could put patients at risk. Given the attention that study got in the lay press as well as Apple's moves to scale up their healthcare expertise, I assumed that the review of health apps, particularly those that claim to measure or treat something, would be tightened up.
Read MoreAlexa has started talking finance — and banks, insurance companies, and investment firms are all listening.
Read MoreFrom the Jawbone Up to the Apple Watch, wrist-based designs have become the de facto form factor for wearable technology. But we’re already wrist-banded out. So what’s next?
Read MoreThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that codifies the Medicare policy guidance when a device is not subject to the hearing aid exclusion. The rule finalizes that certain auditory implants, including cochlear implants, brain stem implants, and osseointegrated (bone-anchored) implants, do not meet the definition of hearing aids that are excluded from coverage.
Read MoreSo, you need to pick up a prescription. During lunch or after work you’ll go to the nearest pharmacy, where you’ll stand in line at a counter. The pharmacist will ask you to wait 20 minutes, so you’ll contemplate a new shampoo or flip through magazines. Maybe you’ll leave with your pills, but maybe the pharmacy won’t have your meds in stock.
Read MoreIt’s nearly impossible to count all of the fitness trackers on the market; there are ones tailored for hard-core runners, stylish designs pegged for women, even ones that alert you when you've been in the sun for too long. But there’s never quite been one developed specifically for those in manual wheelchairs before.
Read MoreThe Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Information and Communications Technology Access (LiveWell RERC) is funded by a 5-year grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (grant number 90RE5028). The opinions contained in this website are those of the LiveWell RERC and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or NIDILRR.
