Memory Aid Service Using Mind Sensing and Daily Retrospective by Virtual Agent

Abstract

Our research group has been studying smart home services for elderly people, which detect their daily activities based on the environmental sensors in the house. However, such sensors can only obtain limited information. To execute more optimized care, we must retrieve not only external events but internal states. Furthermore, to support memory aid, it is important to be able to retrieve the recorded information at any time. In this paper, we propose a new memory aid service, which records the self-talk of elderly people and utilizes the recorded information. Specifically, we develop mind sensing, which is to externalize the inside of elderly’s heart as a sentence using a virtual agent. Then, the recorded information by mind sensing is cleansed through calibration and classification based on dialogue between an elderly person and a virtual agent. These information can be retrieved by classification or arbitrary keywords. In this way, the proposed service enable elderly to record and retrieve what they thought anytime anywhere.