Here at AA we have been matchmaking clients with great technology for nearly 30 years.  I love seeing the smile on a clients face when their system comes together, but when the client has a disability and the tech is going to make a significant improvement in their quality of life then it really means something extra special to the team here.

Assistive tech has come a long way over the years.  Our first ever system was for a partially deaf client in the 90’s who’s wife was confined to bed.  He could not hear her calls for help when out around the farm so we custom-built an audible and vibrating pager system based on a long range 27Mhz frequency with a wearable call button for her and call points around the bedroom and in the bathroom. It worked great and made us feel like we had made a difference.

We have done plenty of hearing aid loops for private clients and schools over the years, and even a custom audio dialog enhancement system for a hard-of-hearing lady who liked to watch movies with her husband.  The extreme volumes involved for her were an issue for him until we installed both a wearable Sennheiser IR hearing aid and a high-power centre channel to help with dialog intelligibility for occasional viewing which was able to reduce the overall volume to a sensible level for everyone.

Our first whole-home assistive tech design was for a motor neuron patient who had to leave his apartment door unlocked so his carer could get in in the mornings creating a massive security issue.  We got chatting and wound up designing a system that could control his access, lights, AV, Aircon and change the SkyTV channel via a Dragon naturally speaking interface mounted on his wheelchair – and this is way back before tablets and Siri!

Next was a design for a system for a paraplegic client in West Auckland that was all about level access and access control, featuring central locking.  This was followed shortly afterwards by a similar design for a client in Waihi.

Another memorable system was an automated PTZ camera system for a client in the Bay of Islands so she could see all around her farm despite being confined to a chair and not having full use of her hands.

The most recent design we have done was for a client in Gisborne who needed voice control of ABB remote opening doors and control of lights and the security system.

These days voice control via Siri or Google ties seamlessly into our Vantage and Crestron control systems giving one point of control for bench height adjustment, door control, white noise, HVAC control, hoists, lifts – anything that’s needed to improve quality of life.   If you need it, we can do it.

Take a look at this excellent article from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute on the role of smart home assistive technologies in supporting ageing in place and disability housing.

As always, we are here to help so if you want to know more about assistive technology, get in touch with our resident expert Brendon on 021 970785 or email him at brendon@aa.net.nz