idem SMART CLOCK

PRODUCT STAR RATING (out of 5 stars): 5 out of 5 stars

"The idem Smart Clock is excellent and sets itself apart by its ability to communicate with your loved one and check on their well-being in your absence."

Given the price of the idem Smart Clock, it would have to be something special to distinguish it from other display clocks designed for people living with dementia. And it does in many ways.

I know this product has been extensively tested with groups of people living with dementia, and I had some of my friends take a look as well.

The idem Smart Clock does all the usual stuff a digital clock does. Shows the time in large font and lets you change the colours and background for better visibility. It displays the date, the day, and the time of day (i.e., morning or afternoon). That would be the very least you would expect from a digital display clock, right? So, what sets the idem Smart Clock apart from the rest?

The idem Smart Clock is far more than a digital display clock. The magic is in the Smart word.

With the idem Smart Clock, you can set up reminders. Medication times that repeat, appointments, to drink that repeats, the list goes on. The reminder appears on the screen, nice and big, along with the idem Smart Clock, talking to you and reading the message. Underneath the reminder is a large green button that must be pressed to acknowledge that the reminder has been understood or completed. It is not that smart that it can watch your loved one take their medication, so it relies on you pushing the button after you have done so. It is smart enough to notify you via the app that the button has been pressed. If the button is not pushed, it will notify you by sending a message to your phone that you may have missed the reminder.

Here is the magic… You can then send a text or voice message via the app to the idem Smart Clock. The message will appear on the device and be spoken aloud, or your voice message will be played. The person must do the same; they must acknowledge the message by pushing the green button again. If there is no response to the message, another message is sent to your phone.

There are a few settings you can set when sending a message. Does the message repeat? How much time do you allow for the response? How the app should notify you whether the response should be accepted or not, just to mention a few.

You can send messages at any time of the day as many times as you like. The response will always be the same: it requires a physical action from the person. A push of a button to understand, complete, yes, or no. You get that message back to your phone.

In addition to a reminder, the idem Smart Clock allows you to add events by linking it to a calendar. This is a handy function because you can add a note to their calendar, and then there is no need to add it to the idem Smart Clock later. You can send messages and notes. All working the same as above.

I think I could go as far as to say that this is a display clock that monitors and communicates with the person and you.