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Comment by morelandjs | Hacker News Reader

I'd like to see a tech'd out nursing home. Gaming is really a perfect fit for nursing homes, and it will only make more sense as our population ages.

Gigabit internet, house Slack, LAN parties, VR gear, zoom calls with family, rigs for new members... create house guilds. Set the tenants up with streaming setups and let them have fun.

I don't think the gear would be prohibitively expensive given the cost of nursing care.

Nursing homes don't have to feel like you are giving up on life. A tech'd out nursing home could be absolutely kick ass.

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Have you ever been in a nursing home? All those systems would go unused. My grandmother struggles like hell to send simple emails with her tablet and she is easily one of the most "all there" residents in her home.

It would probably be more successful in 40-50 years when millennials start checking in to nursing homes, although who's to say we won't be as out of touch as the current generation of residents are.

That's why they'll install the technology approximating whatever was around when you were 48, not whatever is "in" when you're 70 :)

Except most technology made today is not designed for longevity. Tech that requires an internet connection to a working server to function even though that has nothing to do with it's core purpose (see https://mobile.twitter.com/internetofshit)

Yeah, good luck running modern games in 50 years. They certainly won't be running any guilds together in any of them.

He probably means it would make sense a few decades down the line, when our generations age.

I was just watching the documentary Alive Inside and one of the doctors talked about how the system allows him to charge $1k/mo. prescriptions almost without a thought but makes it nearly impossible to get a $40 iPod that significantly improved their quality of life.

It seems like the system works really need to change to get your dream to a reality

My grandfather went into a Skilled Nursing Facility briefly last year. They had TERRIBLE wifi and we ended up getting a Verizon Hotspot so he could check his email. He didn't have any desire to play games. Of note, the therapy department has a lot of low tech games and might actually have a budget for tech assisted therapy.

I visited a nursing home a few years ago and they had televisions on the wall playing crappy broadcast tv and periodically blaring advertisements at high decibel levels. it was awful.

And some folks just didn't move out of bed much because it was so labor intensive.

We need robots and lots of other tech.

That said, there are some cool hospital beds that are like Transformers. For example, you can get hospital beds that not only tilt and let you sit up in bed - but they can basically turn into a chair or help you get out.

(do an image search for "hil rom p1900")

Seniors want simplicity not complexity. Tricked out software and hardware add overwhelming levels of complication so quickly that anyone over 45 will run from it. Among that population, usable apps must be highly visual and the choices apparent (not hidden) and concrete. Their memorization, learning, and logic abilities are often impaired. Never was Steve Krug's UX mantra more relevant than in the aged, “Don't make me think.”

It would, for the younger age group and it will probably move that way. But the current generation often (but not always) have little interest or grasp of technology, especially computers and games. Additionally with dementia and general cognitive decline it makes it hard to learn new systems and games even if there is interest. But for the gaming generation, care homes certainly look brighter. Imagine the levels of VR in 20-50 years time!

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