Researchers dreaming up such high-tech innovations to make the lives of senior citizens easier are convening this week at an unusual technology exhibition at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Woodley Park. The event, timed to coincide with a once-a-decade White House Conference on Aging, is open to the public today. While new tech products are usually focused on the young and hip, the technologists at the 30 or so companies making an appearance here are taking the same components used in, say, the latest flashy "smart phone" to help those in their golden years maintain control over their lives. A watch from Intel Corp. could beam medication reminders to a patient's television set -- or place a discreet reminder phone call, for those wanting more privacy. Chester the Talking Pill, designed at the University of Rochester, is a wall-mounted LCD screen with a built-in software avatar trained to tell patients anything about their prescription drugs.

Eric Dishman is making a cup of tea-and his kitchen knows it. At Intel's Proactive Health Research lab in Hillsboro, OR, tiny sensors monitor the researcher's every move. Radio frequency identification tags and magnetic sensors discreetly affixed to mugs, a tea jar, and a kettle, plus switches that tell when cabinet doors are open or closed, track each tea-making step. A nearby computer makes sense of these signals; if Dishman pauses for too long, video clips on a television prompt him with what to do next. It's all part of a growing effort at Intel and other labs around the country to develop ways to help the elderly, and others who need assistance with everyday activities.

When Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie found out she carried a faulty variant of the BRCA1 gene, her doctors told her she had an 87% chance of developing breast cancer. Armed with this knowledge, she chose to undergo a double mastectomy in 2013 to reduce the risk to around 5%. This kind of genetic testing can now be done much faster and at lower cost, giving clinicians the ability to target treatments more effectively. And combining this technological breakthrough with cloud computing and artificial intelligence is giving pharmaceutical companies the tools to develop drugs faster and with greater chance of success. One beneficiary of this new approach is Eric Dishman, founder of tech giant Intel's first health research and innovation laboratory in 1999 and a founding member of its digital health group in 2005.

When Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie found out she carried the BRCA1 gene, her doctors told her she had an 87% chance of developing breast cancer. Armed with this knowledge, she chose to undergo a double mastectomy in 2013 to reduce the risk to around 5%. This kind of genetic testing can now be done much faster and at lower cost, giving clinicians the ability to target treatments more effectively. And combining this technological breakthrough with cloud computing and artificial intelligence is giving pharmaceutical companies the tools to develop drugs faster and with greater chance of success. One beneficiary of this new approach is Eric Dishman, founder of tech giant Intel's first health research and innovation laboratory in 1999 and a founding member of its digital health group in 2005.