Aging better with smarter technology

Today there are more people over the age of 60 than under the age of six. By 2050, those over 60 will account for more than one in five people on the earth. The challenges of aging—from immobility and social isolation to depression and dementia—already strain our care systems and resources. Without significant innovation, the health crisis for seniors could worsen.

Thankfully, technology is rising to the challenge. For most of the issues we associate with old age, age tech offers a solution.

Lenovo’s smarter technology—from gaming laptops to virtual reality headsets —is enabling seniors to expand their connections, extend their abilities, and enhance the quality of their daily lives. Our end-to-end solutions—including digital transformation services, service & support, and AI—are helping caregivers and healthcare providers do more for more people using fewer resources.

We’re already tackling social isolation -- which has been shown to accelerate physical as well as mental decline -- with a novel solution: eSports. The Silver Snipers—the world’s first seniors-only competitive eSports team—are living proof that virtual competition can help maintain strong cognitive function.

Recruited, trained, and sponsored by Lenovo, these gamers exercise their brains as well as their thumbs, sharpening mental agility and improving hand-eye coordination. Together they have found a renewed sense of meaning, purpose, and belonging.

Virtual therapies offer tremendous promise in treating and even halting mental decline. Research conducted on those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has shown that when patients don semi-immersive VR headsets their cognition and physical fitness improve.

Using Lenovo VR headsets, Pivotal Reality is creating immersive experiences that stimulate places in the brain where memories lie encoded, helping dementia patients find the worlds, memories, and joys that they thought were lost forever.

A brain-computer interface developed in partnership with Lenovo’s AI Innovation Center recently allowed graduate students to race each other on a virtual car track using only brainwaves to control their vehicles. Powered by Lenovo’s high-performance servers, the simulation showed how IoT, AI, and brain-computer interactions can help people with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) or Alzheimer’s improve their concentration.

AI and IoT likewise extend individualized care to seniors living with chronic conditions like diabetes, COPD, hypertension, and congestive heart failure. In the U.S., 85 percent of older adults have at least one chronic condition, and 90 cents of every healthcare dollar goes to managing these. Through the Virtual Care Solution Lenovo is helping bridge the resource gap.

An AI-enabled virtual assistant available on pre-loaded Lenovo tablets can remind patients to take their medications, monitor vitals, and alert providers to adjust medication accordingly, helping patients meet their health goals and connect with their care team more frequently.

Lenovo is also helping eldercare institutions transition to more efficient systems, so that caregivers can focus on people instead of IT. Our Professional Services teams are supporting complex digital transformations. Our hyperconverged infrastructure is not only simplifying IT operations but also cutting energy costs—by as much as 50 percent, as one 12,000-patient facility can attest.

We’re equipping caregivers with pre-configured PCs deployed over the cloud so that they can spend more time helping their patients, and less time waiting for IT to set things up. And with Premier Support, our one-call-does-it-all team of Lenovo IT experts, we’re freeing up in-house IT personnel to focus on the business.

In harnessing the power of AI, VR, IoT, and supercomputing, Lenovo is ushering in a new era for an aging world, restoring quality of life and improving quality of care. Smarter technology can’t stop the aging process. But it can keep us connected to the people, places, and experiences that give our lives meaning, purpose, and joy.