On a separate note from healthcare benefits, a smarter home that can self-regulate will save on energy costs. I'm in the process of having some energy-saving home improvements done, but they don't include monitoring the temperature in each room. There's a lot of waste in heating or cooling homes. If this technology can sense whether a person or pet is in a particular place in the house, then it can be programmed, I would imagine, to increase or decrease the temperature just for that area.
That's a great point. It's also going to help those parents who struggle to tend to children born with disabilities, I'd hope and think. As well as people in the sandwich generation, who are looking after young kids and older parents, too.
The technology can be used globally, providing everyone, anywhere with top medical care. It makes it easier to spread out to more rural areas without losing the benefit of living near a top medical center.
Exactly, Joanne! People with chronic conditions like diabetes, heart problems, and so on could see their lives improve through this type of capability. Families would worry less and costs would drop, since they wouldn't need as much human support necessarily. Talk about a giant step beyond the alarms that people can buy now, which notify respondents if a patient falls... these really are a world of improvement. You can envision temporary systems, too, for those who have undergone surgery and need p/t physical therapy or assistance while they recuperate from their operation. Love this type of technology.
I was also thinking of all the benefits of a smarter home for home healthcare. The needs of our aging population of baby boomers and beyond, along with rising healthcare expenses, makes the technology usage more of a necessity than just a "nice to have." I can see the value beyond what's described here to include virtual doctor's visits with technology checking vital signs on a continuous, 24/7 basis.
Earlier today, I was reading about healthcare initiatives revolving around the 'healty home.' These tie in really nicely with the partnerships you describe here, Todd. In addition to saving the government and insurers money, people will more importantly be able to retain their autonomy and independence through the use of this type of technology. It's a fantastic look at the near-future.
The ThinkerNet does not reflect the views of TechWeb. The ThinkerNet is an informal means of communication to members and visitors of the Internet Evolution site. Individual authors are chosen by Internet Evolution to blog. Neither Internet Evolution nor TechWeb assume responsibility for comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and ThinkerNet bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose.
Recently, the Obama administration has been of two minds where privacy rights are concerned. On one hand, you have an administration that vowed to veto CISPA and mandated open data for government websites. On the other hand, you have an increasingly out-of-control Department of Justice on a fishing expedition at AP and demanding legislation to let the FBI wiretap private, encrypted communications and levy fines if a company fails to comply.
The apartment and house sharing service, Airbnb, now requires members to verify their identities by demonstrating a presence on the web, and by either scanning a government ID or entering detailed personal details. Other enterprises should take a close look at Airbnb's verification policies.
Facebook advertising is a lightning rod. It seems neither brands nor consumers are 100 percent happy about the social media site's policies, placement, or procedures. But the real controversy about Facebook ads and promotions is over whether they work.
By now, you've most likely heard about the 3D-printed gun that Texas-based Defense Distributed demonstrated last week. But we haven't heard the last about the censorship war that began soon afterward.
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
Subsidized handsets, rather than locked handsets, should be the focus of regulators. We're not getting good deals, not fostering innovation, and weakening our power as buyers.
Expert Integrated Systems: Changing the Experience & Economics of IT In this e-book, we take an in-depth look at these expert integrated systems -- what they are, how they work, and how they have the potential to help CIOs achieve dramatic savings while restoring IT's role as business innovator. READ THIS eBOOK
your weekly update of news, analysis, and
opinion from Internet Evolution - FREE! REGISTER HERE
Wanted! Site Moderators Internet Evolution is looking for a handful of readers to help moderate the message boards on our site – as well as engaging in high-IQ conversation with the industry mavens on our thinkerNet blogosphere. The job comes with various perks, bags of kudos, and GIANT bragging rights. Interested?
To save this item to your list of favorite Internet Evolution content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
