Technology is a part of our life that we can’t abandon now. Everything in this life is related to technology, it has changed our life. One of the biggest accomplishments of technological advancement is its application in treating disability for the elderly, especially those suffering from neurological disorders. This paper is going to discuss the benefits of technology and how it helps people in their daily life for example people with dementia who have difficulty in remembering details and managing daily life activities can now live independently with the assistance of smart computer systems. Sleep regulation warnings, ergonomic assistance in moving around the living space and cooking assistance systems are a few examples in this regard. Moreover, assistive technologies help ageing population better interact with technological devices such as smartphones. The emergence of smart technologies has opened the portal for the development of increasingly powerful and customized tools to help people with disabilities. The potential for technology to improve the living standards of disable individuals is enormous. But how exactly does the intervention of technology in improving the lives of disable individuals. Though many believe that smart homes are expensive and not useful for people with disabilities, smart homes are the best suitable assistive technology that a disabled can get.
In a fast paced world that thrives today, smart and technologically advanced home environments provide a safe and convenient lifestyle that promotes a general well being of individuals and an improved quality of life. As Emily Agree, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health states that “Smart home devices also improve well-being by promoting independence. The use of assistive technology enhances the ability of adults to make choices about when and how they carry out activities and improves participation.”(Agree S35). More importantly, smart environments have the potential for older adults because smart devices could support an independent lifestyle for the elderly and the disabled by supplementing their reduced cognitive and physical abilities. The percentage of elderly and retired individuals is expected to rise quickly over the next couple of decades. To cater to the needs of the retiring workforce, it is essential that planned projects to improve existing smart technologies be implemented to avoid major public health crisis.
Those critical of the effectiveness of smart technology as a tool to improve ergonomic lifestyles might point out to the ethical aspect to this issue. According to Tony Gentry, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University noted in his article “Ethical issues related to smart home use include the possibility that smart home technologies may remove choice and control from users, as they learn to rely on automation.” (Gentry 214).The intervention of these systems may restrict a user to limited options and control which can create additional problems on the user end, such as emotional support provide by human caregivers. However, it can be argued that if patients or users practice close ties with their loved ones and do not live in isolation, the need for emotional support can be overcome hence it is a fair to argue that smart technologies indeed have a great potential for older adults and the disable.
As with any technological device, user-friendliness is a big issue when it comes to smart homes and device applications. Because the elderly have reduced cognition and thinking skills as compared to the young, the smart devices can become inconvenient for the elderly to access and control. The elderly population, majority of it is unfamiliar with the digital output of such high tech devices and may not be able to fully control and take advantage of the many functions offered by such systems. This therefore, reduces the effectiveness of a smart home system. Indeed this is an issue that can be dealt with many ways. One would be to rely more on motion and voice recognition software that reduces the need for a digital interaction between the device and the user. Another would be to provide customer service such as phone assistance that offers a quick response dealing with emergency situations. Also, a third idea that comes to mind is to provide simple and short training programs to the user so they can develop familiarity with the new technology. All these methods and solutions require meticulous effort to detail and must be conducted with top of the line industry providers that have proven experience in such fields. In view of the two arguments, it is observed that the solutions to the user-friendliness of smart technologies indeed hold a promise to counter the control and limitations posed by smart home systems.

User interfaces in smart homes have targeted a general problem related to the elderly. The methods, tools, ideas, procedure and user criteria are very general, meaning a one size fits all approach has been applied in the development of these systems. Moreover, technologies and systems proposed have only focused on the hardware aspect of it while neglecting the user interface development. Although this is true in many ways but a general problem such as this asks for a simple and specific solution. As Gentry Tony indicates in his article that “A participatory evaluation process, in which users self-identify needs that may be self-addressed by smart home users, try out devices in their home environments and suggest changes as needed while practitioner provide support, follow along and adaptations can lead to a right fit for the specific person.”(Gentry 213). As it can been observed, a robust research method combined with user feedback is the ultimate solution to the generality and interaction of a smart device. Therefore, it is true that the existing platforms have an outstanding issue of generality but the future holds great promise if it is shaped while utilizing the research methods mentioned above.

As thoroughly discussed in the arguments above, the problems, solutions, benefits and concerns with regard to smart homes and devices all hold their distinctive position on this topic of interest. Smart homes have the potential ergonomic benefits for the elderly adults and disabled. They reduce the need for human caregivers and provide, safety, comfort and convenience so the user can lead a better life and overcome daily obstacles related to aging and/or disability. It is also true that these systems have genuine ethical, privacy and user friendly concerns that need to be addressed. The alternatives provided to counter these issues hold promise in dealing with such problems.