Design of an Intelligent Cognition Assistant for People with Cognitive Impairment

Research has shown that over half of those with MCI will develop dementia within 5 years. In 2017, approximately 50 million people have dementia in the world. Moreover, dementia is now the 7th leading cause of death. Now almost 600 thousand people aged 65 or over are MCI in Taiwan. The ratio of people aged 65 years or over in Taiwan will reach 20% by 2025. According to the results of several studies, 3-19% of adults over the age of 65 meet the criteria for MCI. The majority of care for PWCI is provided by family carers. Using assistive technologies (AT) to help PWCI live independently can reduce the costs of care for PWCI. AT can support communication, monitor and reminders to meet the requirements of socialization, safety and cognition for PWCI, respectively. In this research, we propose an intelligent cognition assistant (iCA) to improve living qualities for PWCI using modern assistive technologies. The system has three major functions: companion, cognitive rehabilitation and evaluation, and daily activities assistant. A friendly and intelligent dialog interface, digital cognitive exercises, multidimensional cognitive evaluation and activities monitors are provided to achieve these goals.