Voice assistances and disability

 

Voice assistance whether it be Google or Amazon: are they sufficiently useful now for the disabled?

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January 22, 2023 update

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 The person who was to be the key focal point of this project has gone silent. Now it could be that they are dealing with other more pressing issues. Life as everyone knows can get very complicated awfully quickly.

So for now this project is on the back burner although my curiosity has been aroused, so I will keep investigating as time permits. That way if they do make contact again we will be able to hit the ground running.

Of course if I find anything of mutely interesting in either hardware or software. There's a high probability that I will post news of the device or application to this blog.

Take care Patrick.

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Pretty much everything now at least in the technology sector seems to be voice assistant capable at least in some degree. With the new Matter standard being talked about all over the Internet it seems that things are slowly improving. However at the same time a lot of companies are having difficulties because everyone has jumped on the bandwagon. The prime example of this is the smart lights market.  I bought into the LIFX lighting ecosystem verily early on because the hardware and colour accuracy appeared to be the best, even though the product line is expensive, upwards of $50 Canadian for a single smart light. Now it is hard to say with the huge amount of competition whether anyone company will survive.

So if you are looking toward the smart device to help in some way improve your life the first question that comes to my mind is which of the companies are going to be around long enough? It has only been about four years since I bought my first LIFX device and now I have over 25 of them mainly focused on lighting but because they require an Internet connection back to a LIFX server, things could get very dicey if the company collapses. Fortunately lighting is not a critical issue. One can get a light pretty much anywhere now days :-).

Let's say however I used to smart device to open or close a door, or automate a phone call. Or even a program on a computer like initiating a Zoom session or Microsoft Teams for that matter. The Matter Standard is supposed to be able to alleviate some of the issue by making control of the devices local and not dependent on a remote server. But the standard itself is new and although backed by many companies may or may not fly.

So how does a person with a disability proceed in enabling high tech features in their homes?

In the coming days I hope to have a few answers for you, as I personally dig into this issue. Stay tuned.
Patrick

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January 11, 2023 update

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I was eagerly awaiting meeting this person today in order to dig into their issues and solve or at least get clarification on where they were with technology and smart assistance.

I didn't meet them yet as they only use a single platform for communication and it became clear that before we could proceed that they had to agree to meet with me. Rather than just their representative. I know this sounds a little bizarre. But I also understand the concerns put forward.

So the standby. I have indicated my willingness to work with them and I am very curious as to what solutions I will come up with or what things will be discovered.

Apologies for being a little on the vague side but until we get the ball rolling any more concrete fashion, patients will have to be a virtue that is relied upon.

More in the next day or two.
Patrick

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January 13, 2023 update

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Sorry folks. Still awaiting a reply from this person as to whether they want to proceed with the project. These kind of delays are not uncommon when you are dealing with many layers of bureaucracy. Personally though the suspense is killing me.

I really want to get into this to see what needs to be done. What kind of limitations and/or parameters were dealing with. If funding is needed how to brainstorm on getting the required resources. I have been on this planet for 63 years and I know where there's a will there's a way. This may sound a little odd, but I truly hope that this situation is not to simple to fix. When I was young I was the kid who would take apart all their Christmas presents. This undoubtedly drove my parents nuts.

Stay tuned. The minute I know something. You will to.
Take care Patrick

"Hey Google Park the wheelchair."

 

New Year's and Christmas have passed, and so I found myself thinking: "You know, I really should get my self something novel but yet useful." (The word useful can be applied very loosely here in this context.)

I am a geek, and am always fascinated by creativity combined with technology. So I set my sights on finding something out of the ordinary in the truly gizmo range. I had no idea my quest would be so difficult...

When it comes to wireless technology it seems that everything relates to one of the following, it is either, smart lighting,-including thermostats and switches etc., smart cameras, smart speakers, smart assistance. While the list of devices goes on and on there doesn't appear to be any real innovation. Every year it appears to be a rehash of the same narrow products. With all the companies out there involved you would think there would be at the very least a plethora of good, for example smart coffeemakers that could grind your beans, so that when one staggers out of the bedroom you have an excellent cup of coffee waiting. The point is there there are a wide variety of potential products it uses that could benefit from automation but we seem to be stuck on a fairly narrow range.

So I have a question for you: Have you heard of any unusual devices that are part of the burgeoning smart technology? Something that really adds functionality or convenience to one's life.

Personally since I use an electric wheelchair, I would love to have a self parking chair. Thereby relieving the staff from having to drive it into its parking spot every night. (For new staff driving a expensive highly sensitive motorized wheelchair can be a little terrifying for both them and myself. 😄)
 

To put it another way, which might make the question clearer:
In regards to the "Internet of Things". Do you find the range of products diversifying into new uses and abilities or is it more of a rehash of a limited range of categories?

 
Leave your comments if you have any thoughts on this.

Internet of Things lifespan

Image by Tumisu.
Used in accordance with the Pixabay license.

It is the first day of 2020, and I find myself thinking of all the "Internet of Things" (IoT) devices I have. In my single bedroom apartment there are 17 smart lights by LIFX (company info-opens new window), a smart television, a Google Home, a Google Nest Mini and if I can ever find them at some point there will be smart curtains as well. All of these devices have one thing in common, they all rely on the respective companies to stay in business in order to function.

Each time I ask Google to adjust the smart lights, a message goes out across the Internet to the LIFX company who in turn send the signal back to the appropriate light. My Sony TV functions in a very similar way. Gone are the days of having local control over anything. Even if I use my phone to control the lights, the signals still travel to and from the company servers. This can have interesting effects when things get busy for LIFX, the lights may go on or off in stages, instead of all at once. There may be only a second or two of the delay, but it seems to me a very complicated way to achieve the simple goal. If the Internet connection goes down then everything simply stops, stuck in whatever state it was last in.

Don't get me wrong, I love all these lights and the potential of the evolving technology is tremendous. But why are we building in such an Achilles' heel with all the new products? It is taking built-in obsolescence to a whole new level. While it is likely that Google and Amazon for the foreseeable future what happens to the plethora of smaller companies and their associated smart gizmos. Last year, as a Christmas gift, the organization I volunteer at gave me a smart plug which was supported by Google home at the time. The company however ran into some issues with their online security and as such they were instantly not supported by Google anymore. The problems have been rectified with the company as far as I know but I still cannot control that particular smart plug via the Google assistant. The smart plug still works fine with my phone but it shows how at the mercy we are when it comes to the winds of change and the future of companies.

So for me for example if LIFX ever closes down that means that my investment of 17 smart light bulbs at an average cost of $50 each, $850 total, will be a bitter pill indeed. They will still work as ordinary lights, and thank God they are energy efficient.

Anyway this is been a spontaneous ponder or rant depending on how you look at it.