Purple Hatz and Robotic Cats Mean Senior Fun
Brian Shulman rolls out pet robotics, board games and fun for seniors.
After 37 years with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and now with the AJT, , Jaffe’s focus is lifestyle, art, dining, fashion, and community events with emphasis on Jewish movers and shakers.
Packing in the positive for today’s aging population, Brian Shulman is about as creative in offering solutions as his company’s name. Purple Hatz (yes, with a ‘Z’), his consulting business, so named for his proclivity to wear purple hats.
Shulman explains, “Purple is often associated with independence, dignity, wisdom, and devotion, all things that have ties to aging/longevity.”
Shulman also consults for AgeTech companies in strategy, sales, business development, and marketing. Brian describes his role as “I now have the honor of working alongside the team at Ageless Innovation to create meaningful moments and combat social isolation and loneliness through the power of play.”
Ageless Innovation is a solutions-based company committed to impacting the lives of older adults and their care partners through traditional “playing.” Their innovative products can help ameliorate geriatric issues like social isolation, loneliness, and cognitive decline by delivering joy. Ageless recognized that there was a void of products that bring fun and play to the older adult market, and it was this insight that inspired the team to develop solutions for older adults by introducing a collection of cost-effective products that create meaningful interactions and experiences for aging loved ones and their families.
Joy for All Companion Pets are life-like, animatronic, interactive “animals” that are uniquely designed to look, sound, and feel like real pets, without the responsibility and cost of pet ownership. Consider a pet that doesn’t have to be fed or walked — a robot!
Shulman’s line of Joy for All Companion Pets includes Pups (available in Golden and Freckled), Cats (orange tabby, silver, and tuxedo), and Walker Squawkers (cardinal and blue birds) are sold at major retailers including Amazon, Best Buy, and on JoyForAll.com. He recalls the delight of a senior after he installed a robotic bird which sang the sweetest tunes on a woman’s walker handle.
Recently, the company launched “Games,” joining forces with Hasbro as their first-ever licensee dedicated to enhancing fun for older adults through play experiences. Some of the games Shulman has reimagined are Trivial Pursuit Generations, The Game of Life Generations, and Scrabble Bingo.
Shulman explains, “The new games are designed to be played together in-person, like their classic counterparts. There is no technology. Just good old-fashioned fun!”
Ageless Innovation partners with AARP to assure that game events are free.
Shulman is anxious to partner with the sales/marketing and life enrichment teams at senior facilities to produce a Reach Out and Play event.
He recalled, “We have multiple generations come together to participate, ranging in age from 3-93. It is such a powerful event. The goal is to bring people together to create meaningful social connections through play, and I think we achieve that.”
To help seniors locally, Shulman has appeared at the Renaissance on Peachtree (this past September) for a fun game day with the residents and families. And soon, he will visit Somerby in Sandy Springs for a free game event and hopes to do 20-plus a year. He is working with other Atlanta organizations like Age Well Atlanta, Jewish HomeLife, and JF&CS to similarly host.
Raised in the Detroit suburbs, Shulman received a degree from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and an MBA from Emory (Goizueta). In his early career, he struggled within the confines of “cubicle working” jobs in commercial banking and specialty insurance wholesaling. Escaping those doldrums, he entered the exciting world of start-ups and emerging technology working on projects like beer festivals and the humanoid robot “Pepper.”
His sentimental reason for entering the senior space came after watching his mother struggle as a long-distance caregiver for parents who were suffering from Alzheimer’s. He then became interested in technology at the intersection of aging and health.
Shulman and his Sandy Spring native wife, Rachel, a maternal fetal physician, are raising two sons. Brian and Rachel met at the University of Michigan; and he says they “bleed maize and blue” (Michigan colors) and named their son, Wolverine (middle name). Now that is a serious fan!
To attend a Reach Out and Play event, or plan one, visit: www.agelessinnovation.com/home/reachoutandplay/ or email ReachOutAndPlay@AgelessInnovation.com. Or to host Companion Pets, visit www.joyforall.com.
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