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Apps for the aging and impaired are catching on [Virginian - Pilot]
(Virginian - Pilot Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) By Nedra Rhone
Cox Newspapers
ATLANTA
A funny thing happened when the menus arrived at the table during Ilene Berman's 48th birthday dinner.
It involved 10 women, five smartphones and an application called Mag Light. The dimly lit atmosphere at the restaurant was momentarily interrupted as the women whipped out their phones to illuminate the very tiny light brown print on the cream-colored menus.
"No one thought twice about it," Berman said. "It is becoming commonplace."
The women had joined the ranks of smartphone users who find themselves smoothing the path to middle age with mobile apps.
While games are the most popular category of apps in general, utility, lifestyle and health-related apps that make navigating daily life easier are attractive to middle-aged and specialty consumers.
Here are some examples:
* An app to test your vision and determine if a visit to the optometrist is in order.
* A voice-activated nutrition app translates food options into healthier alternatives.
* A blood-glucose monitoring system app will let diabetics monitor blood sugar on the go.
* And an app equipped with emergency buttons can find or track an individual's location - a helpful tool for Alzheimer's sufferers and their families.
VaShaun Jones, 35, of Atlanta, uses a flashlight application. Jones, who was born visually impaired and lost his sight altogether five years ago, uses it to find light sources in a room. When the app is activated, he can sweep his phone around the room and observe the difference in shadows to find a window or determine if a light is on.
Jones also uses Glympse, an app that allows users to send location updates to friends for a select time period, and an app that converts speech to text so he can send emails and text messages.
Still, health-related apps are reportedly an increasingly popular category for developers. Health care giant Sanofi Aventis created forthcoming iBGStar, the first blood-glucose monitoring system that connects directly to an iPhone to manage diabetes information on the go.
The jury may be out on the effectiveness of some health apps, but doctors are recommending them to patients.
When Rick Butgereit, 52, needed to lose weight and eat better, his doctor recommended a desktop program that provides and tracks nutritional information. He also installed the Nutrition Pal app on his iPhone.
He opens the voice-activated app, recites what he plans to eat and gets a list of alternatives. When he chooses, the app gives a calorie count and saves the information. Butgereit said he has lost weight and his blood pressure has dropped in the two months since using Nutrition Pal.
(c) 2012 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved.
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