I've mentioned this before about the old man as he is entering the world of the confused at 78 Apart from smoking like the ex navy man he is, tv is his other past time. He rarely watched video's but mostly tv with a virgin box. This in itself earlier in the year caused issue with two remotes, so we got an all in one remote. Sadly with so many buttons on it and with them being so small, he didn't get on with it. We found a simple tv remote https://www.unforgettable.org/flipp...WwqbWfre6ntgKGql1PYkGVXWxJ84xX4caAtdnEALw_wcB This allows him to channel up and down and volume up and down but as his hearing is going too, he now uses subtitles which means going back to the virgin remote then the big remote and the confusion starts again leading to many phone calls many nights. So long winded as usual, I saw clarkson on tv advertising the amazon prime and fire stick where he speaks to it and it selects the channel. In my mind the ideal outcome would be an alexa type thing where he can say, volume up, volume down, change channel, subtitles on etc. Does anyone know of or use something similar.
We use a Harmony Hub in our house. We’ve the all singing all dancing one that has many buttons. That wouldn’t be any good but there are mobile apps. The bonus is you can select what buttons to display and which buttons do what. You could run it on a cheap tablet (connected to Wi-fi) and select only the buttons he needs.
I have Amazon Alexa and also an Echo Dot and find that unless you can speak very clearly at times they tend to go a bit "haywire" and do not react to what you want them to do. The Amazon remote might be a good idea but you might want to check out reviews of it before considering a purchase and its accuracy in reacting to voice commands. Both my Alexa and Echo Dot are very close to TV's and sometimes they react to what they think is being said to them when a TV programme is on, which is not always welcome.
Sorry to hear about your old fella. my next door neighbour doesn't have dementia, but is losing his hearing and used a set of bluetooth headphones for watching tv, just has them on the arm of his chair andwhen he sits down, the headphones go on and he's in a world of his own. he can have them as loud as he likes. just a thought for a part of the problems. can't think of what best for the remote issue, I have 4 or 5 for the various boxes, amps, tv, etc and get moaned at by 'er indoors for making it too complicated (just because I'm a cheapskate). good luck. Pete
Not sure if any use but might be worth checking out this system - have it on my LG and principle seems to work but I don’t use that often http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/lg-smart-tv-voice-recognition-and-recommendations-page-2
Sorry to hear about your Dad Noob. Mine was 96 last October and has now pretty much full blown dementia. It's happened so quickly since he broke his hip in February (replacement healed incredibly quickly btw). Prior to that he was still quite with it and able. It's unbelievably hard to watch a loved one go like that. No idea how to help with your TV thing, but thoughts with you (both).
I can't help you regarding the remotes ect. but have great sympathy as to your dad'd condition. My dad went the same way and it's vert hard for everyone involved. I hope you find a solution to the remote , love and blessings to you all
My above recommendation will work here too. We’ve got amps, Apple TV’s, Kodi Boxes etc... the Harmony Hub handles everything. Press Sky and it turns the TV to the right input, does the same to the amp and turns on the sky box too (you can even specify Sky’s start screen ie Menu or a specific channel). Also, we’ve now hidden everything in a comms cab in the garage as the remote works wirelessly to the hub. The hub then uses IR blasters to get the signal to the boxes. That means you can hide it all in cupboards etc. You can specify what the volume buttons control etc. (Amp or TV, and how many jumps to make per press). Even my missus has it all worked out.
Loads of good ideas chaps and all greatly appreciated. He's having a lower three vertebrae spaced and fused op tomorrow so will be away from his home for a few days which might give me the time to look around his place to see what can be achieved.
50% off the Harmony Hub Elite on Amazon today. Logitech Harmony Elite Remote Control, Hub and App, works with Alexa https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B014GXQOJ2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_6I8fAbRR7GS0S
