Adaptive tools for the elderly: new devices to cope with age-induced cognitive disabilities

ABSTRACT

We look at the issues and methodologies needed to develop, deploy, and evaluate situation-aware mobile computing devices that adapt to the needs of elder users based on observed or predicted user behavior and needs. This paper discusses how pervasive computing can help the aging population live independently for as long as possible. We believe that successfully applying technology to this problem will require careful studies of how the target population actually lives and what their actual needs are. We propose a combination of traditional laboratory studies and surveys, as well as the use of instrumented spaces and personal monitoring devices to measure how people behave, normally and while using proposed assistive devices. A key requirement is the development of ways to simultaneously monitor signals from the body, activities, and social interactions to provide a more complete view of individuals and their lives. Some of the core research issues are machine learning to design devices learn from and adapt to user behavior, user-computer interaction to build devices and systems that support users in their tasks, mobile computing to support user and device mobility, mobility and data management to represent, access, update, and protect information, sensing devices that monitor human activity and finally rapid prototyping of services in a sensor-rich environment, in a scalable and secure manner.

REFERENCES

• 1: Gregory D. Abowd , Christopher G. Atkeson , Jason Hong , Sue Long , Rob Kooper , Mike Pinkerton, Cyberguide: a mobile context-aware tour guide, Wireless Networks, v.3 n.5, p.421-433, Oct. 1997 [doi>10.1023/A:1019194325861]
• 2: Ernest Davis, Representations of commonsense knowledge, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., San Francisco, CA, 1990
• 3: Anind K. Dey , Gregory D. Abowd, CybreMinder: A Context-Aware System for Supporting Reminders, Proceedings of the 2nd international symposium on Handheld and Ubiquitous Computing, p.172-186, September 25-27, 2000, Bristol, UK
• 4: Stephen Fickas , Gerd Kortuem , Zary Segall, Software Organization for Dynamic and Adaptable Wearable Systems, Proceedings of the 1st IEEE International Symposium on Wearable Computers, p.56, October 13-14, 1997
• 5: Golledge, R. G. (Ed.) (1999) Wayfinding behavior: Cognitive mapping and other spatial processes. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999.
• 6: Tad Hirsch , Jodi Forlizzi , Elaine Hyder , Jennifer Goetz , Chris Kurtz , Jacey Stroback, The ELDer project: social, emotional, and environmental factors in the design of eldercare technologies, Proceedings on the 2000 conference on Universal Usability, p.72-79, November 16-17, 2000, Arlington, Virginia, United States [doi>10.1145/355460.355476]
• 7: Cory D. Kidd , Robert Orr , Gregory D. Abowd , Christopher G. Atkeson , Irfan A. Essa , Blair MacIntyre , Elizabeth D. Mynatt , Thad Starner , Wendy Newstetter, The Aware Home: A Living Laboratory for Ubiquitous Computing Research, Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Cooperative Buildings, Integrating Information, Organization, and Architecture, p.191-198, October 01-02, 1999
• 8: JoAnn T. Hackos , Janice C. Redish, User and task analysis for interface design, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, 1998
• 9: João Brisson Lopes, Designing user interfaces for severely handicapped persons, Proceedings of the 2001 EC/NSF workshop on Universal accessibility of ubiquitous computing: providing for the elderly, May 22-25, 2001, Alcácer do Sal, Portugal [doi>10.1145/564526.564553]
• 10: Marvin Minsky, The society of mind, Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, NY, 1986
• 11: Thomas M. Mitchell, Machine Learning, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 1997
• 12: Müller, Jörg, "The Design of Intelligent Agents: a Layered Approach", Springer-Verlag, 1996.
• 13: Jakob Nielsen, Usability Engineering, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Inc., San Francisco, CA, 1993
• 14: Norman, Donald A. "Invisible Computer : Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer Is So Complex and Information Appliances Are the Solution", MIT Press reprint 1999.
• 15: Odlyzko, A M, "The visible problems of the invisible computer: A skeptical look at information appliances",. First Monday 4(9) September 1999.
• 16: Sharon Oviatt, Mutual disambiguation of recognition errors in a multimodel architecture, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems: the CHI is the limit, p.576-583, May 15-20, 1999, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States [doi>10.1145/302979.303163]
• 17: Sharon Oviatt, Multimodal system processing in mobile environments, Proceedings of the 13th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology, p.21-30, November 06-08, 2000, San Diego, California, United States [doi>10.1145/354401.354408]
• 18: Sharon Oviatt , Philip Cohen, Perceptual user interfaces: multimodal interfaces that process what comes naturally, Communications of the ACM, v.43 n.3, p.45-53, March 2000 [doi>10.1145/330534.330538]
• 19: Nissanka B. Priyantha , Anit Chakraborty , Hari Balakrishnan, The Cricket location-support system, Proceedings of the 6th annual international conference on Mobile computing and networking, p.32-43, August 06-11, 2000, Boston, Massachusetts, United States [doi>10.1145/345910.345917]

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.2 Design Tools and Techniques

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.1 MODELS AND PRINCIPLES
      H.1.2 User/Machine Systems

General Terms:
Design, Experimentation, Human Factors, Legal Aspects, Security, Theory

Keywords:
HCI, age-induced cognitive disabilities, mobile assistants, ubiquitous computing