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Communicating with Handicapped Loved Ones?

Posted by Cliff on from the making-the-complex-ultra-simple dept.

Trx asks: "Many of us regularly exchange digital images from our loved ones, but the disabled are often left on the dark side of this digital divide. My dad is quadriplegic, and I've been looking into ways I might outfit his room with an automated download of images to his television. Have any Slashdot users attempt something of this sort? He lives in an assisted living facility, with personal telephone/cable lines. He has special response buttons for control of television channels and phone. Due to high staff-turnover, training-in staff to help him download emails or images hasn't worked out. I am stationed overseas, and can only get back once every 6 months if I'm lucky, so low-maintenance is key. WebTV would be an option if it didn't require mouse or keyboard. We've also considered investing in a laptop DVD player, and mailing disks. Any suggestions?"

8 of 43 comments (clear)

  1. Digital Picture Frame by MBCook · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I think a digital picture frame is your best bet. While the larget ones are expensive (ouch), you could build your own larger one out of an old laptop or something much cheaper. Then you just have it automatically dial in (or use high speed internet if that's an option) and download pictures off a FTP server (or some such) somewhere every night. When you want to give him a new picutre, just upload it to the server. Then the next day it will automatically be one of the ones in the slide show. No controlls, no nothing. Just a static object in the room that doesn't require any interaction that does exactly what you want easily.

    Now if you wanted to give him some controll (forward, back, pause, etc) that could be much trickier. The best I can think of off the top of my head (and this wouldn't be too easy) would be to set it up with a microphone and teach it to listen for whistles or some such. One quick whistle is stop, two is forward, etc. Or you could use different pitches (A is stop, B is forward, etc). That would be easy to controll once he got the hang of it and would require no controll device, wouldn't have to be rigged into the ones currently provided, etc.

    Of course that assumes he knows how to whisle. He does know how to whistle doesn't he? He just puts his lips together and... sorry, couldn't resist.

    --
    Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
    1. Re:Digital Picture Frame by MBCook · · Score: 3, Interesting
      OK, other idea. The quality wouldn't be as good (due to it being on TV) but it's still an option. Does he need channel 3 or 4? You can buy those little devices (often at Radio Shack (blech)) that let you plug in recent electionics (the kind of S-Video or RCA jacks) into old cable ready TVs. So you take a little PC (or laptop, or Mini-ITX or somesuch) with video out, and plug it into that box. Then you put that box between the TV and his cable line. Then whenever he goes to channel 3 or 4 (I think you can buy kits on the web to do it on other channels) he gets the pictures. From this point it is exactly as I described in my picture frame idea. You could do the same things for controll (or rig up other stuff for the same purpose). That would allow it to be on TV, and it would be much cheaper than the picture frame idea (buy an old laptop off e-bay with a busted screen and hide it behind the TV. It doesn't need the screen, just the video out.)

      Good luck.

      --
      Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
  2. Keep it simple by Bishop · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You mention a laptop with DVD player. An easier solution is simply a DVD player. Creating a DVD or VCD with a sequence of still images is very easy. With the correct indexing it is easy to go forward and back between images. Google for it.

    Another simple solution is to have your digital pictures printed out and delivered. There are many shops that do this. It is inexpensive. The big advantage is that there is nothing to break. Also no staff need special training (ditto for a dvd player). There is also an added bonus in that your father can easily display photos that he likes.

  3. More info, please by plsuh · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Sounds like an interesting situation, but a little more information would be useful:
    • You imply that he has some ability to press buttons for changing channels, etc. Can he handle a mouth- or tongue-joystick device? If so, you have many more options since he has the equivalent of a computer mouse.
    • How tech savvy is your dad? If you give him access to a full-blown computer, can he deal with it?
    • What kind of local tech support can you hire/barter for/guilt into helping when you're not there -- buddies, cousins, etc.? And what kind of skill set do they have?
    • You stated that he has his own "personal telephone/cable lines". Does he have a cable modem as well? If not, does he have a second line to use for dial-up access?

    Without this information (and possibly more) it's kinda hard to say what would be best for you and your father. One thing you might want to look into is the new Mac mini since you can easily add S-video output to his TV and Mac OS X requires a lot less upkeep than Windows.

    --Paul
  4. Hauppauge MediaMVP by DavidYaw · · Score: 3, Informative

    MediaMVP is a device that hooks up to your computer via ethernet, and hooks to the TV via SVideo. It can play MP3s, show still photos, and play MPEG1 and MPEG2 movies.

    Since he can control a TV using a remote control type device, then he should be able to control this using a remote control.

  5. Download? by fm6 · · Score: 3, Interesting
    The key word here seems to be "download". There are any number of ways you can ship photos to your father, but I imagine you've already thought of those. I'm guessing you want your latest photos available to your father without much delay -- and without it being difficult for him to access them.

    I can think of a couple of solutions. For example: You get a cheap desktop or laptop computer. You use it for nothing but your father electronic picture downloader. You turn it on, and it automatically runs a web browser with a script that does a slideshow of all the photos on a particular web site. (A little serial port or IrDA hacking could maybe interface the slideshow with your father's existing gadgetry; otherwise you can just put the whole thing on a timer.) The web site belongs to you, and you just upload new photos to it whenever you want your father to see them. With a little work, you could also add audio files for narratives and background music.

    That's just one idea -- a little brainstorming would produce a couple more. If you lack the expertise to do the necessary software hacking, I'm sure you could find some volunteer labor. (I'd be pleased to offer my own skills.) The same goes for hardware hacking, though for that you'd need somebody on the scene.

  6. Maybe a simple solution.... by kponto · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You could create a webpage that refreshes itself every couple of minutes or so and displays full size photos chosen at random from a folder on the site. Plenty of prefab scripts out there that can do that. Just set up a laptop in his room and all the orderlies need to do is open Firefox with your photo page set as the default home page. You could also use this to send him message s by just editing the page. he wouldn't need to do anything as long as he has a dedicated phone line that can be online all the time. If he doesn't and can only be on sporadically, then just type up some simple instructions on how to double click the "Internet" button and then double click the "Firefox" button so the orderlies can get him signed on and tape it to the desk where the machine sits.

    I dunno...maybe something like that.

    k

    --
    This too, will end.
  7. VNC by winstonantisex · · Score: 5, Informative
    If you configure a computer to automatically start a vnc server after booting, you can control the mouse and keyboard remotely. This opens up many possibilities. I have done this for my parents and been amazed at how much it seems like I am physically present when using vnc in connection with a telephone conversation.

    See, for example, http://www.tightvnc.com/: "TightVNC is a free remote control software package derived from the popular VNC software. With TightVNC, you can see the desktop of a remote machine and control it with your local mouse and keyboard, just like you would do it sitting in the front of that computer."