SIEMENS

Whether they're surfing Costa Rica's Playa Grande, running the New York marathon, or just taking a leisurely bike ride around the block, you can see them everywhere: healthy people who are 60 and above. But things weren't always so rosy. According to the U.N., the average life expectancy of a baby born in 1950 was only 47. Today, however, it's 68. And by 2050 it's projected to reach 76. As a result, the number of people who are 60 and older is due to rise from roughly one-in-ten today to about two-in-nine by 2050. And in the developed countries, that ratio will zoom from one-in-five to one-in-three.

Not only are people living longer, they're enjoying a higher level of self sufficiency, and thus quality of life. For instance, Siemens researchers are working with partners in industry and the German government to develop a wrist-based sensor system that will wirelessly transmit a user's vital signs to a nearby hospital (see article "Coming Home") . The technology is expected to help thousands of people with serious medical conditions to stay in their own homes and avoid superfluous doctor visits.

For those who need a hand around the house, robots (see article "İ, Butler") and exoskeletons are on the drawing board. Now under development at Siemens, for instance, are visual systems that can translate what they see into measurements that are precise enough to allow a robotic arm to pick up a glass or slide a slice of bread into a toaster. More muscular robots are being designed to lift people from wheel chairs or out of bed, thus avoiding the risk of injury to home assistants.

Meanwhile, in the context of an EU smart home project, researchers with European home appliance leader Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH) in Zaragoza, Spain are developing senior friendly appliances (see article "Cooking up a Better Life") such as refrigerators that automatically keep track of the expiration dates on products outfitted with radio frequency identification (RFID) chips and washing machines that respond to RFID-based information on clothing.

Siemens' Osram lighting subsidiary is also focusing on home and work environments that take older customers' needs into account. For instance, since blue light has been found to reduce production of melatonin, a hormone that can cause drowsiness, and since our lenses tend to become yellowed with increasing age, thus diminishing the effect of blue wavelengths, researchers are developing lighting systems that produce brighter, bluer light throughout the first half of the day, while gradually dimming down and increasing the level of red wavelengths in the late afternoon (see article "Duplicating Daylight" and "Frequency Shift"). The idea is to enhance the user's natural rhythms and thus help to avoid sleep disorders.

Personalized Joints. Almost everybody complains about getting older. But the fact of the matter is that a lot of the bumps are being taken out of the lengthening road to old age. Take hearing aids (see article "Sound Approach"), for instance. The newest technologies from Siemens make it possible to clearly hear someone talking to you even from the back seat of a moving car. What's more, such instruments automatically learn to adjust themselves to the user's preferred volume by remembering preferences for different classes of sounds, such as speech in a loud environment or music.

One of the painful facts about growing older is that joints often become so worn out that they require replacement. Until recently, prosthetic joints were produced in standardized sizes. But thanks to the impressive three-dimensional precision of the latest Siemens CT scanners and the ability to transmit and transform the resulting data into exact duplicate joints by means of computer aided manufacturing, it is now possible to manufacture truly personalized ersatz joints, thus avoiding a major cause of post-operative discomfort (see article "This Joint's for You"). What's more, since the first incarnation of such joints is in the virtual world, they can be tested there in relation to the patient's unique biomechanics, thus providing an optimized fit in the very real world of the user's body.