Many have learned one of the greatest ways to innovate isn't by invention, but taking a complex product or idea and making it simpler. Not surprisingly, there are many tecchnology products and services aimed squarely at today's senior, a market comprised of generally non-tech savvy users; the Jitterbug cell phone and the Presto Printing Mailbox (for example) have found success catering to the needs of seniors who can see the benefit of technology, but shy away from feature-rich, complex computing products.

However, unlike Presto and Jitterbug, companies who've developed simpler to use hardware and services around them, a small outfit called Seniors In Touch managed to leverage Touch computing in a venture that connects Seniors to their families in modern ways... but maybe not in the way a TouchSmart Developer would think.

Seniors In Touch - Simplifying Internet Communication Through Touch

According to Seniors In Touch, they use patented technologies to "enhance communication between Senior adults, their families and loved ones by creating a simple to use touchscreen interface for residents of senior living communities."

They believe one of the greatest challenges for Senior Living communities is networking and communicating with the family of the resident. Many family members do not live near their loved one and their loved one does not understand the current technologies of e-mail, voicemail and the Internet; thus communications becomes a challenge (just imagine the typical Senior setting up and configuring Skype). The lack of understanding of current technology combined with the obvious manual dexterity issues of senior adults creates a gap difficult to fill easily.

And fill it they did, using touch (and coincidentally, some TouchSmart PCs). However, rather than use something like the TouchSmart SDK to integrate proprietary touch software into the machine, it made more sense for that market and the software's purpose (as online communications) to eliminate the OS from view entirely and simply serve simple, touch friendly, pages through the web.

While Touch has exploded, thanks in part to the rise of smartphones and tablets, it's usefulness in the desktop market hasn't been as clear-cut. However, Seniors with arthritis and diminished dexterity are the perfect example of where touch on a desktop can serve to bring quality computing experiences to those who otherwise would be left behind.

TouchSmart Developers looking for inspiration on how to identify and serve a market with an innovative service leveraging touch computing should take a look at Seniors In Touch and their offering to seniors.