Light bulb which changes colour according to the time

Apr 28, 2017 36 Replies

My M-I-L finally moved in wity us (we converted a downstairs room). Worked OK for a while, the she started wandering around.

This didn't last for long because she lost mobility, and so we *knew* she couldn't move. She was also given a hospital bed with side rails.

My uncle was similar. The difference there was that as an engineer, he could defeat all the locks on the side rails they tried. Towards the end, someone had to sit with him all the time.

"Old age is not for sissies."

:o(

pamela used his keyboard to write :

What about a large DIY clock, with just an hour hand and a dial which is colour coded? Black section for stay in bed, yellow for time to be up. You can buy battery quartz clock mechanisms for pennies, maybe add a small light shining on it?

Thing with dementia is the sufferer will clearly remember the colour of his or her first bike - but not what traffic light colours mean.

I was hoping it's possible to learn this by conditioning in the same sort of way young children respond to sleep training clocks like these Gro Clocks.

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I have an Amazon Echo which speaks the time if you ask it.

You can set an alarm on it but there isn't a command to ask the Echo how long is it before the next alarm. That might have been very useful.

New commands are added to the firmware all the time, so maybe what I want will appear.

There's an interface from the Echo to another apps which can be used to control items, such as lights, around the house but it's quirky and I've give up trying to understand how to set it up.

I Googled for those get-out-of-bed alarms but they seem a bit elaborate and pricey.

I'm thinking of a wireless PIR like this but it looks too basic to connect multiple senders or recievers.

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This company has some better quality equipment although I have never heard of them.

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What you need is a switch or PIR near the door and an MP3 player that can play a recording of you telling mum to go back to bed controlled by a timer.

I have seen a PIR that did something similar in a house where it said "mom don't forget to lock the door".

I have no idea where you buy them.

It would be possible to program an arduino to do it or a Pi zero.

Try

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I don't think that it ever reached the domestic market but I fitted these a few years ago

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However they really were not much more than very bright lights (with a good CRI) in the daytime (even on a sunny day).

Now another similar option is

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and you can rent lightboxes or get free trials of them from

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All the best with her.

Then she'll get confused when she gets up to go the toilet (if she still does) and go back to bed again ...

Owain

That depends on the layout of the house and where you put it, Shirley?

Buy her an Amazon Dot.

"Alexa what time is it?"

Andy

Then I doubt she'll remember what the different light colours mean.

My sympathies.

Andy

Andrea what time is it?

Angela what time is it?

Antonia what time is it?

etc, etc

Then wait for the phone call complaining the 'new wireless' is demonically possessed.

Owain

You can get very simple pressure mat type wireless alarms for less than £60 (no VAT). Eg.

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