Unus Tactus Lite And Enhancements To Full Version

A while ago I wrote about this wonderful yet simple app called Unus Tactus that provides an easy interface for people with motor/ cognitive deficits to make phone calls and notifies their emergency contacts if they get disoriented or lost and exit the "fence" (a radius in miles that has been set for them that's considered safe) . Recently, Unus Tactus released the lite version of the app that lets you try and test it before you buy the full version for $9.99. The lite version lets you add just one contact and does not have "geofencing" capabilities.

In the full version of the app, some features have been added and refined, like:

•     Easy set up and editing of an unlimited number of photo/phone contacts.
•     Alphabetizing of contacts with picture and name display of every contact.
•     Customizable emergency contact e-mail and phone number.
•     Emergency button for fast help with a Google maps link to ID phone caller location.
•     E-mails with a map link location sent to the emergency contact after every outgoing call
•     �Geo-fence� feature with 5 different distance settings up to 15 miles.
•     Automatic e-mail with Google Map and, iCloud link if phone exits geo-fence area with out call being made. (All E-mail notifications are On/Off switch able).

Check out this video to see how easily the app can be set up. 

The lite version can be downloaded here, and the full version here.

To read the full press release that has more details on the app and new enhanced features, go here.

Unus Tactus website: www.unustactus.com 

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CanTunes And CanPlan: iOS Apps For Cognitive Impairment

There are certain simple interests we all have that bring us immense pleasure. Needless to say, one of them is listening to music. Thanks to digital music and portable music devices, listening to music is much more fun, and the experience is more special. But what if someone has cognitive impairment and finds maneuvering regular music applications like iTunes difficult?

CanAssist, an assistive technology organization, has released an app for iOS with a minimal interface that helps people with cognitive disabilities play music on their iPhones and iPads with utmost east. CanTunes, a $.99 app on the app store, does not require knowledge of traditional music player buttons (play, pause, rewind, forward, etc.). The interface displays all the album covers on the device in the form of a circular disc. Tapping the album cover starts playing the music and spins the album art continuously, indicating that it is playing. Tapping the  same album art stops the music. You can also tap a different album cover to play that album and stop the current one. As simple as that!

This app also has sleep mode to turn off music after a certain period of time, and is also compatible with VoiceOver.

The same organization has developed another useful app called CanPlan which is a task management app that helps people with a range of cognitive challenges to complete activities with greater independence and confidence.

To set things up, a user would work with a support person and take pictures of each step in a task. For example, for all the steps required to make coffee (get coffee grinds, get filter, etc.), they can take pictures of every step, caption them and create a task. Whenever the user needs to perform that task, they will just go through all the steps one by one in CanPlan and finish that task. These tasks can also be scheduled - they can set reminders for themselves, so at a certain time of day, a message will alert them to perform that task, and they can go through all the steps one by one to accomplish it.

Watch this video for a simple demo of this app.

The free version of CanPlan supports a maximum of 3 tasks. The full version, which supports an unlimited number of tasks, is available for purchase from within the free app.

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Unus Tactus - Easy iPhone Interface For People With Motor/ Cognitive Deficits

Unus Tactus is a new iOS app that is designed to simplify the lives of people with mild cognitive and/ or motor deficits. The app creates an easy to use phone interface and adds quite many important features that can be easily used for making calls and in case of an emergency.

Unus Tactus creates an interface that shows all contacts in the phone in a 4x4 grid. Each grid has a contact's name and a big thumbnail of them. Calling them simply requires a tap on the thumbnail.

Another useful feature is the big help button on the app, which is available all the time. Whenever  the help button is pressed, two things happen: a phone call is made to an emergency contact, and at the same time a link is emailed to the emergency contact showing the person's exact location on Google Maps. 

The app also has a very interesting feature called Geofence which keeps track of the phone owner's physical location. If the person exits the "fence" (which can be set on the phone - 1 to 15 miles radius), an email with a link to that person's exact location on Google Maps, and an iCloud link (for tracking in real time if the emergency contact knows the phone owner's iCloud login) is sent to the emergency contact. 

Both these features can be especially helpful to people who suffer from Dementia, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, or any other disease that affects judgement, cognition etc.

The idea behind the app is to give peace of mind to caregivers, and to assure them that their loved ones are safe. Although this app is meant for people with cognitive deficits, I see this app as a very useful tool for even people with visual impairment who may use the help button if they get lost during their daily travels, or exit their "geofence". People with low vision too may find the big thumbnails very helpful for making calls.

Currently, this app is only available for iOS (4.2 and above) for $9.99. Go to the Apple app store to buy this app.

To visit the developer's website, click here. The developer also has a Facebook page (Unus Tactus) and a twitter handle (@unustactus).

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