Comment by ALittleLight | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ALittleLight | Hacker News Reader

I've thought about this recently. My grandfather has been struggling with some senility like problems. He tends to leave his house in an attempt to "go home" and wander off somewhere and then suddenly realize he's in the middle of nowhere and doesn't know how to get home.

When I think about developing such conditions myself it doesn't seem like it would be as much of a problem for me. If I suddenly came to cognition in the middle of nowhere with no idea where I was I'd immediately use my phone and Google maps to find the way back or Uber if it was far away. Likewise, if I found myself in an unfamiliar place and had a compulsion to "go home" I assume I'd try to use Google maps to find my home, and when it pointed to my current location I might dig into my recent photos and notes to discover messages to myself that I actually do live here and have been having memory problems and what I should do is sit in a chair and wait for a bit.

I hope the advance in technology and the extent to which my phone is part of my life and mind will make me more resilient to some of the harms of old age.

From what I've seen, once you reach your grandfather's age, you too will have the same problem he does -- the inability to reason your way out of the problem. My father has reached a similar state of mind recently, and I'm not at all sure how to address it and fill the void it created, especially since he never was very fluent with tech (computers or cell phones), and he lives alone.

Ten years ago your grandfather would have done what anyone without a GPS does -- he'd retrace his steps, or bring a map, or ask someone how to get home. But the problem now is that these things don't occur to him; his mind is no longer self sufficient; he's confused.

I think the only tech solution is for him to be able to speak aloud, "Take me home", and hopefully there's a device in his hand (or strapped to his arm) that understands his words and can tell him exactly what to do. Or it can send a message to a rescue team which comes to get him.

At some point in life, when your mind is no longer able to think rationally, I believe your digital assistant will have to take charge completely -- listening to your voice and telling you exactly what to do or calling help for you. Hoping to restore lost cognitive skills via the right kind of device or app is not a plan that scales well with a declining mind.

Someone in that state would not likely think to shout into thin air. At that point you operate more on instinct and midlife decision-making inertia.

Currently, I say into the air "ok Google, navigate home" if I don't know how to get home. If that's what I continue do for the next 40 years, it may be instinctual enough to continue through my senility.

At some point I hope companies like Google/Amazon/Apple will allow us to initiate the conversation with their devices using additional "safe" keywords like "help" or "emergency" or "I'm lost". That would improve their value for emergencies a lot, since injured people don't need to be senile to be befuddled or verbally incapacitated.

There are numerous products available now (like "Life Alert", but cheaper), where the user simply presses a button on a pendant around their neck, and a human voice asks "Hi, this is company X. How can I help you?". The summoner can then converse verbally with the agent and request help or contact someone on your behalf.

Though I think most such devices/services don't yet know your physical location, it seems likely that more of them will do so soon, as well as add supplementary features like the ability to route the summoner's call and location to a caregiver's phone or computer.

Using such a device is almost effortless, which I think is essential for someone who's confused and afraid or injured.

I think you're on the correct track, but in this case the default state should be assumed to be one of failure.

It needs to operate like a deadman switch, and if out of prescribed safety bounds require active feedback of intent and will to not trigger stages of reaction. Contacting family/friends, and/or emergency responders if the situation is critical or at risk of becoming so.

There's already a significant market for assistive GPS trackers. Most of them offer geofencing; some support two-way communication. One particularly ingenious company has designed a pair of shoe insoles with GPS tracking.

https://www.techsilver.co.uk/product-category/assistive-tech...

Personally, I doubt I would get along well with an assistant that was keeping score of all the times I was wrong, and always questioning my abilities based on that.

"Dave, you have lost your wallet exactly 19 times in the previous 29 years. It was underneath your car's seat exactly 17 of those times. Why are you checking the couch for the third time? You are showing signs of dementia. Should I call your brother for assistance?"

...

You know, I typed the first part out with an honest oposition to the idea of an "assumed failure" state, but the situation I came up with just makes it look more appropriate. Expecting the software to tell the difference between all my normal insane things and genuine dementia seems impossible.

Of course the habits we form now -- reaching for our phones, bringing up Google or Uber -- will persist into our old age. But chances are that by then there will be no Google, no Uber, and nothing recognizable as a phone. Imagine an old man repeating "OK Google" into his empty palm. That's our future.

That’s all assuming you brought your device with you in your stupor. It could be an even greater shock when you come to and realize you don’t have the thing you’re hopelessly reliant on!

This could become a major use-case for wearables as more tech-reliant generations age. Before Google ruined the UI, putting on my smart watch was part of getting dressed and I felt weird without it on.

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