Can you recommend a video calling solution for elderly parent?
July 24, 2017 9:57 AM Subscribe
My 82 y/o dad lives alone about 30 minutes away (with no traffic) and we sometimes cannot make it to see him physically on a regular basis. He's had health issues in the past which he won't mention on the phone but where if I had seen it in person (or video) we could have prevented an emergency hospital visit.
So.....my solution was to buy him iPad so we can video call regularly if a physical visit would not be possible. I settled on an iPad after many weeks of researching but we may need a better solution. I've removed or hidden non-essential apps already.
He has essential tremors of the hands (not Parkinson's disease) and bad eye sight so even the simple act of "slide to unlock" is difficult. I got him a stylus but I don't think that has made a difference. I've looked at the IFTTT or Workflow apps but those don't seem to have any functionality that would auto-answer or make it easier to answer a facetime or skype video call or use the iPad.
I've looked at several products targeted to this problem like the Bloom (where's the buy button?), Skype for TV (discontinued), Amazon Echo Show ("drop-in" function is most promising. I would get one for him and use the app on my phone), Ily (again, how do you even buy this? It's got an app for one of the parties), Nucleus (promising, I think I'd need to buy 2 to make it work) and some other ones.
I can't seem to find the "one". Does it exist? I don't think another iOS app is the solution. It's the hardware that is the challenge right now. I need to get him onto the iPad first before dealing with software challenges.
Do I just suck it up and spend the $229 (+tax) on the Amazon Echo Show and "drop-in" whenever needed? None of the other functions like Alexa, music, smart home etc. would be useful or used. I literally only need the video calling. Is it a waste for it to be a single purpose device? Does it matter?
Does anyone have any experience with any of the other products I listed? Or can you recommend something I haven't seen yet? I think I read somewhere that iOS 11 will have the ability to auto-answer phone calls, but I don't know if that would apply to facetime on the iPad, and it's another few months before it's released anyway.
I've already spent over $300 on the iPad, a stand and a stylus. If the Echo is the best solution then I'll bite the bullet and get one, but here in 2017 is this the best there is to communicate with a technologically challenged eldery parent?
Thank you.
So.....my solution was to buy him iPad so we can video call regularly if a physical visit would not be possible. I settled on an iPad after many weeks of researching but we may need a better solution. I've removed or hidden non-essential apps already.
He has essential tremors of the hands (not Parkinson's disease) and bad eye sight so even the simple act of "slide to unlock" is difficult. I got him a stylus but I don't think that has made a difference. I've looked at the IFTTT or Workflow apps but those don't seem to have any functionality that would auto-answer or make it easier to answer a facetime or skype video call or use the iPad.
I've looked at several products targeted to this problem like the Bloom (where's the buy button?), Skype for TV (discontinued), Amazon Echo Show ("drop-in" function is most promising. I would get one for him and use the app on my phone), Ily (again, how do you even buy this? It's got an app for one of the parties), Nucleus (promising, I think I'd need to buy 2 to make it work) and some other ones.
I can't seem to find the "one". Does it exist? I don't think another iOS app is the solution. It's the hardware that is the challenge right now. I need to get him onto the iPad first before dealing with software challenges.
Do I just suck it up and spend the $229 (+tax) on the Amazon Echo Show and "drop-in" whenever needed? None of the other functions like Alexa, music, smart home etc. would be useful or used. I literally only need the video calling. Is it a waste for it to be a single purpose device? Does it matter?
Does anyone have any experience with any of the other products I listed? Or can you recommend something I haven't seen yet? I think I read somewhere that iOS 11 will have the ability to auto-answer phone calls, but I don't know if that would apply to facetime on the iPad, and it's another few months before it's released anyway.
I've already spent over $300 on the iPad, a stand and a stylus. If the Echo is the best solution then I'll bite the bullet and get one, but here in 2017 is this the best there is to communicate with a technologically challenged eldery parent?
Thank you.
I came in to suggest the Echo Show. I don't have one myself (with two devices, I'm at maximal Echo saturation of my teeny apartment already) but I've been thinking about getting ones for me and a couple of family members so we can more easily stay in touch. The voice activation is the reason I thought it might be a good choice for your father.
If you haven't already tried an Echo, the voice recognition is really darn good at hearing and interpreting instructions, even from a room away, if it's not obviously obstructed by a closed door or something. Before you shell out for the Show, it might be worth getting him a relatively-inexpensive Dot and see if he likes interacting with Alexa and messaging/chat first; it ought to be pretty easy to rehome the Dot to a friend or hock it on Craigslist if either he hates it, or if you decide to definitely go with the Show for video.
Disclaimer: I work for AWS, though not associated with the Echo/Alexa folks at all. I'm merely an enthusiastic user of their products.
posted by sldownard at 10:16 AM on July 24, 2017
If you haven't already tried an Echo, the voice recognition is really darn good at hearing and interpreting instructions, even from a room away, if it's not obviously obstructed by a closed door or something. Before you shell out for the Show, it might be worth getting him a relatively-inexpensive Dot and see if he likes interacting with Alexa and messaging/chat first; it ought to be pretty easy to rehome the Dot to a friend or hock it on Craigslist if either he hates it, or if you decide to definitely go with the Show for video.
Disclaimer: I work for AWS, though not associated with the Echo/Alexa folks at all. I'm merely an enthusiastic user of their products.
posted by sldownard at 10:16 AM on July 24, 2017
You may be able to change the iPad's settings to make it easier for him to use. This article goes into lots of detail about assistive settings; the first section is about poor motor control settings.
More info: 1, 2
posted by Cranialtorque at 10:29 AM on July 24, 2017
More info: 1, 2
posted by Cranialtorque at 10:29 AM on July 24, 2017
I've already spent over $300 on the iPad, a stand and a stylus.
You can probably recoup most of that by selling it, and put that towards the Echo, if that helps your decision making process.
posted by AFABulous at 10:36 AM on July 24, 2017
You can probably recoup most of that by selling it, and put that towards the Echo, if that helps your decision making process.
posted by AFABulous at 10:36 AM on July 24, 2017
Apple's accessibility settings really are very nice. I definitely second looking into them if you haven't already.
posted by Alensin at 10:44 AM on July 24, 2017
posted by Alensin at 10:44 AM on July 24, 2017
Response by poster: Thank you all so far and sorry to barge in but I wanted to add that this would be in addition to the iPad. One function of the iPad is for it to be used to Skype with his sisters (my aunts) who all live in different countries. Interestingly my oldest aunt (older than my dad) is able to use a PC to do this but then again she doesn't have the tremors.
So while the ideal scenario is the "drop-in" function of the Amazon Echo Show combined with Skyp-ing capability, I would be ok with an iPad and another device, or to make the iPad more usable.
Thanks again.
posted by eatcake at 11:04 AM on July 24, 2017
So while the ideal scenario is the "drop-in" function of the Amazon Echo Show combined with Skyp-ing capability, I would be ok with an iPad and another device, or to make the iPad more usable.
Thanks again.
posted by eatcake at 11:04 AM on July 24, 2017
The next version of iOS will be able to auto-answer calls, including FaceTime video and Skype. It will be out later in the year, or you can join the public beta and install it now.
posted by simonar at 1:32 PM on July 24, 2017
posted by simonar at 1:32 PM on July 24, 2017
How's his eyesight? A larger screen than the Amazon Echo Show and existing iOS devices might be nice. Does he have a computer already? might be able to use that, either natively or via screencasting/Airplay mirroring. VNC might be a way to go, where you login to his computer/device and start his side of the videoconf.
posted by cyclicker at 1:51 PM on July 24, 2017
posted by cyclicker at 1:51 PM on July 24, 2017
Yeah, I was also thinking that a cheap computer or laptop might be the easiest to use with tremor issues. (There are a lot of mouse settings that can help, and you can also show him how to use the keyboard instead of the mouse for just about anything.)
That said, maybe you can set the ipad up to be more accessible with an external keyboard (for example).
Finally, whether on a computer or on ios, you may be able to use automatic scheduling to get you somewhere. (I don't have access to a system to try it out on.)
posted by trig at 11:53 PM on July 24, 2017
That said, maybe you can set the ipad up to be more accessible with an external keyboard (for example).
Finally, whether on a computer or on ios, you may be able to use automatic scheduling to get you somewhere. (I don't have access to a system to try it out on.)
posted by trig at 11:53 PM on July 24, 2017
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posted by eatcake at 9:59 AM on July 24, 2017