We're living in an aging population with cognitive decline, placing stress on caregivers to constantly monitor older adults struggling with memory loss.
MemPal is a wearable voice-based memory assistant that helps older adults live more independently and safely at home while also reducing caregiver burden. MemPal uses AI to automatically log the user’s actions in real-time based on visual context from a wearable camera without storing any image data, preserving user privacy. With this activity log, MemPal helps older adults recall locations of misplaced objects and completion of past actions by a simple voice-query ex. "Hey Pal, where is my phone?" Additionally, MemPal provides context-based proactive safety reminders and automatically tracks the completion on the MemPal app, allowing for remote monitoring by caregivers. Lastly MemPal can generate an automatic, summarized diary of activities also useful for physicians to better understand patient behavior within the home.
MemPal was tested within the homes of 15 older adults. Our study demonstrated improved performance of object finding with audio-based assistance compared to no aid and positive overall user perceptions on the designed system. We discuss future design guidelines to adapt these types of wearable systems to various older adults' needs.
Paper under review at IMWUT 2024.