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January 19, 2004,
Vol. 74, No. 1S
EECS student’s project attempts to make technology intuitive for the elderly Strides in technology
have made it possible for people who are far away from each other to
stay in constant contact. Keeping tabs on
an elderly parent can be as easy as logging onto a Web site that’s
connected to an interactive communication system. However, the problem
often occurs on the other end, as most elderly people are not comfortable
communicating on computers. EECS senior Margaret
Yau is trying to change that. Instead of training the elderly to be
more comfortable with computers, she is creating a computer that is
more comfortable for the elderly. Yau secured funding
from the Haas Scholars Program to work on her Digital Flower project.
The flower is a tangible interface that an elderly parent can arrange
to indicate how they are feeling that day. An image of the flower’s
position is then beamed to their family’s computer screen. On the
other end each member of the family can arrange their digital flower
to relay information on how they are feeling to an elderly recipient.
Yau got this idea
from a group project she did in assistive technology for people with
disabilities. She realized that, like the disabled, the elderly have
their own unique issues and difficulties regarding technology usage.
To come up with
an interface the elderly would be comfortable with, Yau conducted numerous
interviews. A love of nature was shared by all the participants, so
the idea for a flower interface was born. “The flower
is simple and expressive and it will look nice on a table,” says
Yau. Yau will continue
to work on improving the system, providing a way for the elderly to
send messages using a tangible electronic mailbox. “The elder would open the mailbox and it would play a message sent by a family member,” adds Yau. |
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