Staying ahead of the Wii Learning Curve

aadmin — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 11:58:27 +0000

Video games allow people to venture into a world fueled by the imagination. A virtual reality can be a lot of fun whether you’re a child, middle aged professional or older adult! Play a video game and you can be almost anything — a race car driver, a web slinging super hero, a soccer star or a tennis mogul. The possibilities are limitless. In today’s digital society, video games are one of the most popular forms of escapism, which we all need from time to time :)

Nintendo Wii - The New Normal in Assisted Living

It’s universal for assisted living centers and retirement communities to host video game events in their weekly activities calendars. The game console of choice is Nintendo Wii due to the social flavor of the gaming experience. The controls are simple and easy for new players to enjoy on their first try in an enticing assortment of games, including golf, bowling, boxing, and fishing.

Wii was the first mainstream video game console to use motion sensors primarily to control the gameplay. With motion sensory, Wii players control the games with physical movements. While holding a wireless controller, players’ motions are tracked by an infrared sensor, setting off actions in real time within the video game.

The Intuitive, Natural Feel of Wii

The learning curve is short to play video games on Wii, because the physical motions to control the games are designed to be intuitive and natural. When a couple of old time sluggers in Wii's homerun derby swing the wireless controller, the virtual player on the screen swings in unison. Players can stand close or far away because the accuracy of the motion sensory is remarkable as is the range of the wireless controller. The console is inclusive and accessible for seniors to get familiar with the basic motions of Wii games within minutes.

There are two important points to consider when setting up a Nintendo Wii event:

Have extra batteries on-hand for the wireless controllers to ensure no one is left out if power runs out.
Place the infrared sensor that detects the motion of the wireless controller at an adequate height. For players who are sitting, the sensor may need to be positioned lower so the motion is detected properly.

Wii encourages everyone to participate in physical activities that form relationships and a sense of community. Residents can play against each other or as teammates head-to-head on the Internet against other retirement communities to promote good old fashion, healthy competition! Just remember what Tom Hanks said in A League of Their Own, “There’s no crying in baseball!” :)

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Tablets KO eReaders for Older Adults

aadmin — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 11:38:55 +0000

eReaders became trendy among seniors as compact electronic reading tools, but tablets are poised to take over on the popular and residential front.

Older adults are part of a growing surge in tablets as reported by PewResearchCenter’s Tablet Ownership 2013. According to the report, tablet ownership has grown from 3% to 34% in three years. Although eReaders maintain a slight edge within the older population, that situation is about to change.

PewResearchCenter’s statistics show older adults increasingly going online to e-mail, search the Web, make purchases, bank, read news, and participate in social networking – Generations 2010. Online activity by seniors will create a demand for tablets.

Patric Welch, also known as Mr. Noobie, has assisted many older adults with computer and gadget problems as an educator and on his website, Noobie.com.

He asks seniors, “Is reading books the only thing you want to do with this device?” Once they realize they can e-mail, play games, and build a reading library, they become convinced to choose tablets.

His observations contrast with analysts who predicted the dominance of E-readers for Older Adults.

According to Welch, the tablet satisfies up to 95% of the activities of seniors now utilized on computers. “Computers are losing relevance," he said. “Even a laptop is cumbersome to carry compared with a tablet.”

Tablets are easier for older adults than computers. Their start-up is automatic compared to the slower boot up speeds for computers. Tech-challenged seniors find tablets to be the most adaptable computing tools on the market.

Welch cites his parents: “It’s demanding for my mom and dad to boot up a computer, login, install virus software and backups,” he said. “It’s a real learning curve.”

Older adults can find difficulty in installing new software and navigating a computer. Touching apps on the surface of tablets is easy. Installation is effortless. The tablet takes away the fear of technology.

Tablets have proven to be effective platforms for designed therapeutic music in Alzheimer’s settings streaming spiritual and music audio programs to residents.

An app newcomer to the 55+ demographic is babbel, a language-learning device, from babbel.com. Markus Witte, Founder and CEO said the app goes deep into grammar courses and other language areas. babbel.com, from Berlin, Germany, offers 13 languages including English. Its top languages in the USA are Spanish and French. Other top-ranked learning languages are German, Italian and Portuguese.

Witte said babbel.com doesn’t specifically target senior citizens, but the demographic still constitutes a large portion of its users. Often, older adults utilize the babbel app to refresh a previously-learned language or to train their brain, said Witte. “Language learning is one of the best approaches to staying mentally agile.”

He references his parents as examples of the capability of the babbel app. "My 80-year-old parents are power users.”

A few popular senior apps:

Skype
Crosswords
Luminosity - a brain games app
WebMD - for health information
Med Reminder - a medication tracker
Big Calculator
Dragon Dictation – transcribes verbal language into e-mail

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Staying ahead of the Wii Learning Curve

Tablets KO eReaders for Older Adults