Virtual Assistant

In today’s blog , I am taking break from Corona Virus Covid 19 topic, because most of you  are keeping yourself  updated about the same. Instead today I am writing about some different topic, and the topic is about Virtual Assistance.

In recent days there is lot of halla gulla about the use of gadgets and other similar items for the betterment of the life of seniors and  how much Virtual Assistance play a role in this. They are assistants that are part of  your device, like phone or tablet. They are easy to use and can make a lot of things less complicated which  lead to improvement in life . It is the seniors and the immobile category of people who benefit most by this.

In the modern Android and similar phones, there are so many Apps that you can download to make your life much easier, and with the availability of WiFi and internet  available on the mobile . This has made use of these virtual assistants to help you in sending messages, make a call, set up reminders to take medicines or pick your shopping, play music of even finds eatery in your area from where you can order for home delivery of foods, make  a booking for train/air tickets/ movie tickets/drama tickets and  many more  things which can be achieved by means of this virtual assistant. It is as good as telling a person to do your errands

In every Android cell phone there is Google Assistant, which can be used for search of  any information required under the sun, similar device is also available in Apple phones. Now there is one gadget called Alexa (Amazon Echo), which is slowly  taking the world by storm.

This gadget Alexa can be dubbed as a rather patient companion, who can talk to you and who you can talk to, for getting your chores done. This assistant can tell about any information you seek like scores, about weather, or play music for you etc etc. Of course it is not replacement for human care giver, but it can certainly  help people who are immobile and aged.

Generally elderly people tend to become impatient, sometimes they ask same thing repeatedly, irritating a normal person. But this gadget Alexa would not mind giving answer for the same question many times. This can be specially very useful for the people suffering from dementia, as Alexa can tell them what year, day, month or time it is, it can also tell you about the latest happenings around the world, play music of their choice, and can help them look up for information and convey the same, it can even tell jokes.

Its utility for person suffering from Alzheimer disease is immense, because  a person can ask Alexa anything, and that too several times a day if required. Alexa reminds him to take his medicines on time and add things to his shopping list, and even  read out audio books for him. Intelligent, patient and helpful Alexa certainly seems to have a few right qualities that can make it a companion for people with dementia.

It can do many things more easier also-suppose you have a smart home devices installed at your place to make it friendlier for seniors. Alexa, can actually help, you to turn on the lights or put them off. It can even set the   temperature for you and thus help you manage your home environment without you being present. This is  big advantage for immobile people as well seniors, and also for the senior people who are living alone.

All this gadget needs is wireless network connection for using it. You will also need a smart phone of computer to set up initially. After that it works on wifi and  a power connection. The possibilities with this gadgets are immense, with even visually challenged people. Earlier in India this gadget was available only in English language, but now it has come with Hindi language also. So the crux of the matter is as families are shrinking, and most of the times seniors have to stay alone in the house, the virtual assistant gadgets are boon for them.

Hope this information will be useful to you.

Waiting for your feed backs/comments/ view.

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

2^nd Apr 2020.