Amazon is introducing a new feature called Alexa, a care hub, designed to help people take care of aging family members.
The company said it has been hearing for years about using Alexa’s voice assistant to keep an eye on elderly relatives, who are increasingly looking to stay in their homes instead of going to a nursing home. The shift has created a market of more than બજાર 30 billion for ancillary technology, according to the Consumer Technology .G Association.
Until Wednesday, customers with Alexa and voice assistants will be able to link their account to an elderly loved one’s Alexa account. If a family member accepts the invitation, their caregiver can send alerts and view their relative’s activity feed. That feed is a high-level summary that includes basic information on how to use the lights in the home instead of spying on parents.
There is also an emergency contact facility where a loved one can simply say “Alexa, call for help”. Alexa will then send an immediate pressure notification to the caregiver.
“Once that connection is established, the care recipient doesn’t need to do anything and their day can go as usual,” said Tony Reid, vice president of Alexa Experience and Echo Devices. “What the caregiver gets is a little peace.”
Amazon has been looking for a place for aging for years, at one point discussing a possible collaboration with AARP, a lobbying group that represents the interests of people over 50 years old. The company can do a lot more to help instead of seniors.
Reed said the company has been working on the product for about 18 months, but it has taken on a new significance as many newcomers stay at home with the Covid-19 and are unable to see their relatives in person. The company is beta testing the product with Amazon employees and their own loved ones, before opening a wider population of its users over the past few months.
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