Page 54 - Green Builder Magazine May-June 2019 Issue

ASSISTED
LIVING CREDIT: CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY COGNITIVE ASSISTANCE LAB

TECHNOLOGY

CREDIT: LUNA AZUL PERMANENT HOUSING The cane that explains. Smart canes are
capable of identifying objects and
people for blind people through
ultrasound.

Lending BY ALAN NADITZ

AVING A PHYSICAL DISABILITY used to mean a life con ned
to sitting in a chair or relying or holding a caretaker’s hand to
get from place to place. But now, being called “disabled” doesn’t
quite seem right. Thanks to many assistive devices developed
an Assist Hin the past 20 years, you can do what everyone else can—which
means don’t really have a disability—right?
Heck, those technological advances improving vision, mobility and illness
might even make you better at something than someone deemed “healthy
and normal.”
That thought becomes even more appealing—and important—as we
age. The older we get, the more likely we are to have one or more parts
When dealing with a disability, of our biological engine break down. The U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services predicts that close to 88 million Americans will be age
it’s today’s tech to the rescue. 65 or older by 2050. Roughly 40 percent of those persons are expected
to have some sort of physical disability plaguing them during their not-
so-golden years.
But technology is giving us plenty of help as we go gray. Here’s a look at
some of the classier, cooler assistive devices—beyond the familiar such as
smart locks, voice-enabled controllers such as Amazon Echo and Alexa, and
personal trackers—that can keep us happily on our feet for years to come.

52 GREEN BUILDER May/June 2019 www.greenbuildermedia.com

52-54 GB 0519 Disabilities with Tech.indd 52 5/8/19 4:11 PM