The future's bright?

There was a really interesting feature in the Guardian about solving Japan's ageing problem. (It is a country ageing faster than any other). It's an interesting case study because in the UK we could be faced with similar issues when the baby boomers start to need additional support in older age. Japan is addressing many of its issues through technology (helped in a big way by the motivations of the private sector who see massive market opportunities, particularly in relation to pharmaceuticals, nursing care and medical care.

So our futures could include:
"intelligent toilets" where our waste is automatically analysed and results sent to the GP for action.
Cars which monitor brain activity in older people so that anything out of the ordinary is spotted before an accident happens.
Medical care delivered in the home but remotely, a version of tele-medicine and tele-care.
Easy to swallow food.

I guess if these developments are aimed at keeping people independent in their homes they can be seen as positive, and even hopeful, improvements but only if they also involve lots of human contact too, even if this is via video link, so that we can all be socially included as we get older.