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Assisted Living with Home Automation About a month ago I sent out some emails and newsgroup postings asking for ideas and input for our February issue about Home Automation for the Disabled. While the response was not overwhelming ... there are several letters below from people with needs and some with solutions. Please take a moment to reply to the authors or to me (bobh@hometoys.com) if you have ideas or solutions to some of the problems. The home automation industry responded to the call for articles with enthusiasm (8 articles about HA and Disabilities in this issue). There is definitely a need for this kind of information sharing and I'd very much like to keep the ball rolling and provide a resource for those in need and those who can provide for the needs. Here's what I have in mind to start:
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Letters to HomeToys
The difficulty with this subject is where to start! I suffer from Osteo-arthritis and Kyphoscoliosis and have difficulty using my hands, carrying weight or standing for any length of time. As such there are several items/accessories I can think of that would be of GREAT assistance. Some that immediately come to mind would be: switching lights on/off by voice command, doors opening by sensing the approach of a person or voice command, webcam facilities to see who is at the door before going through the whole effort of getting across the house, taps with water flow controlled by voice command (and you could also add here: ovens, fridges,etc.etc.), voice activated tv/vcr/pc, thermostatically and timed heater controls, remote control curtains..........etc.etc
The list, I would think, is probably endless and for those, like me, on a low income it is also an unachievable wishlist!!
Chris McCluskey
chris@cmccluskey.freeserve.co.uk
I have multiple sclerosis and would like a door answering system like on the Seinfeld Show. One that would let me ask who's at the door. Then automatically open the door. Or not. Not too costly! For a normal 2-3 door house. Really hope you can do it!
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We have seen a growing number of EasyKEY sales to the medical supply market and retired communities primarily because it is much easier to get in and out of the house by simply pressing a button. Anyone who has difficulty manually locking a door with a metal key can benefit from our remote deadbolt system. You may have seen a new software package called "face it". For consumers with home pc's, a small camera can be mounted at the door and connected to the computer. With the face it software and an EasyKEY installed on the door, entry may be accessed by simply showing your face. The program builds a data base every time it sees you and keeps a dated record of anyone who enters or is denied access. If you would like to check out the software it is on the web at www.faceit.com . We estimated the total cost of setting up a home to be around $200, including the camera and an EasyKEY.
Sincerely, Chad Hudspeth President-Cornerstone Mfg. Inc.
chad@easykey.com
Bob, I was just checking out the new issue of HomeToys and I saw something about using home automation for the disabled. I'm not sure what this is all about since my screen reader (I am blind) does not work with your web page very well. I have tried both frames and non-frames versions with the same results. Its like reading a newspaper, but instead of reading a column and then the next. You read each line from each column all the way across.
Anyway, I use the MS12A with X10 Home monitor to let me know when someone is lurking around our backyard and the DM10A is used as a doorbell. I have the X10 Home Monitor play a wave sound when lamps come on and a different wav when they go off. I can also use the photo cell of the MS12a to tell when a lamp comes on since it sends an off when it detects light.
Regards, Ken Lee
kd4sia@erols.com
Here's one for me to try and deal with. Can others tell me how they deal with using screen readers and browsers. It seems to me that most websites either use tables or frames. I try to keep that to a minimum within the articles themselves but there are often tables etc. used to organize the information on a page. Any thoughts?
Bob Hetherington bobh@hometoys.com
Bob, their are hundreds of web sites related to blindness but the one I like for technical reference is the Empowerment Zone: http://www.empowermentzone.com/
This site is HUGE, but if you look closely you can find some good ideas for designing web sites that are speech friendly. Their also documents that give info on making applications speech friendly.
You can also get a 40 minute demo of the speech program I use. It even comes with its own text-to-speech program (I use an external TTS box). The software I use is called JAWS (Job Access With Speech), or JFW (JAWS For Windows). Http://www.hj.com
The main problems I have had with home automation is the software. I can not use Active Home at all. That is why I use X10 Home Monitor which is totally text based. unfortunately it is a little flaky. Another problem is setting the device codes on the modules. But you can mark the modules with a dot of glue or something and its not too bad. I tried the X10 wireless remote / mouse and it did not work at all. The programming interface is one big graphic, nothing talks. I plan on writing my own interface for the remote.
I am beta testing ActiveX10 by GIS-INC and it looks pretty good (speech wise) right now. I had to push my screen reader to its reader limits, but I was able to use the ActiveX10 software ~okay.
Hope this info is useful, Regards... Ken
kd4sia@erols.com
