Previously discussed only in expert circles, "eldertronics" was first exposed to a broader public in 2009, to be more exact, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, which many people consider the most important technology fair in the world. In association with AARP, the American Association of Retired Persons, inventors and companies presented their latest ideas at the fair. And Susan Ayers Walker, Managing Director of SmartSilvers Alliance, swore by the advantages of the digital world and forecast a growing demand for products and services offering a greater quality of life in old age. Accordingly, in the United States, people are already talking about a "silver market".

Some 46 million US citizens have arthritis and over 30 million are affected by hearing loss. To date, they have all been largely ignored by the entire electronics industry. Today, the "digital divide" that the former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan once talked about describes not only the differences between industrialized nations and developing countries but also those between the different generations. And the baby boomers, who were born between 1946 and 1964 and are now slowly beginning to show their age, are not only the richest old people in the history of mankind, but they also have an affinity with technology.

The electronic magnifying glass that is available on more recent versions of large operating systems can be seen as a sign of the times. But in Las Vegas, CAST, the Center for Aging Services Technologies, also presented a complete house of the future suitable for elderly people. CAST is an organization that has undertaken to support trends that make growing older more pleasant and more free. It has now grown into an international cooperation of more than 400 technology companies and emergency services, universities and government officials.