Memory Minders

At some point in your life, you've probably forgotten an appointment, forgotten to make a phone call, or forgotten to stop off at the bank. Young and old, we all have memory lapses. But as the number of senior citizens increases, so too will the incidence of memory loss, dementia, and, yes, Alzheimer's disease. And as people live for longer and longer, they will need tools that are more sophisticated than the standard pillboxes. In light of this situation, technology companies are working on high-tech solutions for seniors with advanced memory loss. The result? Smart appliances, smart rooms, and smart homes.

Intel is one company working on these "smart appliances," which, according to the company, would function differently depending on the person's needs – reminding a person to turn off the stove, providing instructions on preparing a meal, and so on. If the telephone reminds you to call your doctor for an appointment, your chances of remembering these tasks will improve. By wiring an entire home, the system has the ability to cover all aspects of daily life, thus helping the person to live independently for longer.

The Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh are testing a robot that reminds seniors of appointments, when their favorite television show comes on, and when they should take their medication. Studies have shown that some people find a robot to be less nagging as a reminder than a human caregiver. A robot is also being promoted as a good companion: Sony's robot dog, named AIBO (meaning "friend" in Japanese), is being marketed to lonely seniors.

One device being developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta uses motion detectors to track a person as they walk around their home. If the senior forgets to enter the kitchen regularly – an indication they are not eating – a message is sent (either by someone who is tracking the senior or through an electronic system in the house) to the family, friends, or the senior. At the University of Rochester, researchers are developing "assisted living health management technologies," which they are testing in the Smart Medical Home at their Center for Future Health. The Smart Medical Home is outfitted with a variety of monitoring systems: infrared sensors, computers, biosensors, and video cameras. These monitoring systems note whether the senior is taking his or her medication, look for signs of health problems, and locate misplaced items, such as eyeglasses.

As wonderful as all these systems sound, they still have a long way to go before they are easy to use and cheap enough for the general marketplace. For instance, some prototypes require seniors to wear a device on their clothing, which prompts the question: How will seniors with memory loss remember to attach their tracking device when they wake up in the morning or when they change their clothes?

Privacy is also an issue. To prevent cameras and motion detectors from becoming too intrusive, seniors will need to decide how much information they want their caregivers to see. Some may want full disclosure of their activities, while others may choose to have indicators of their activity levels only, rather than photographic monitoring of all aspects of their personal life.

Researchers cannot give exact timelines concerning when this technology will be ready for the marketplace, but as the number of senior citizens grows, the demand for these products will increase. And while gadgets will not take the place of personal care, they could lessen the workload for caregivers and allow seniors to live independently for longer.

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