Assisted Cognition

Henry Kautzkautz@cs.washington.edu

590 AI – Autumn 2001

An Epidemic of Alzheimer’s Disease

Early DiagnosisEarly-stage Alzheimer’s disease can be diagnosed with a high degree of confidence with non-invasive testsFirst time in human history we have a population of people who know they have Alzheimer’s

Pathology of Alzheimer’sBrain tissue destroyed starting from hippocampus – plaques and tanglesPrecise location of neuronal loss determines what abilities lost in what orderReverse child development – retrogenesis (Barry Reisberg, NYU neurologist)

Lost CompetenciesShort-term memoryMemory of eventsMemory of conceptsAbility to plan for futureDesire to plan for futureAbility to orient self in time and spaceDressing, bathing, cooking, eatingRecognize friends, relativesIntrospection / awareness

Cognition in ContextCan often compensate for physical disabilities by change in environment

WheelchairsRedesigned appliances

Cognitive competence also depends on environment

Can you cook dinner, given a dead animal, a stone knife, and set of flints?

Social ContextThe context for cognition involves both the physical and social environments

Stability & organization of physical environment may reduce cognitive loadOther people (e.g. a spouse) can actively assist in problem solving

What do I do after taking a shower?Where is my razor?

The Million-Dollar QuestionCan we build computer systems that can (like a caregiver) actively assist a person with Alzheimer’s perform the tasks of day-to-day living?

Enhance quality of lifeProlong independenceLessen burden on other caretakers

Assisted Cognition Systems

Learn patterns of behavior, and actively offer help / prompting as neededRemember where objects are and how they are usedRecognize signs of mental distress and alert other caregivers

Computational Infrastructure

Ubiquitous computing environmentVision/sound/motion sensorsSpeech input/outputPortable wireless PDA’sHome robots

Software layer on top of “smart house” technology

Scenarios

Monitoring Repeated Events

Learn when prototypical activities (eating, sleeping, grooming) are performedMonitor behavior – notice when an activity is missed

“Would you like to have lunch now?”“Did I eat lunch yet?”“You’re still awake – it’s awfully late.”Alert family member – person not moving/eating.

Task SequencingAlzheimer’s suffers often have difficulty in completing a task, or moving on to the next step of a task

“You’ve been standing in the hall for a while now – can I show you where the bathroom is?”“Now open the drawer and take out your socks. Okay. Get out a shirt. The closet is over here.”“Here is how you always have made a cake. First, get out the flour...”

GuidingRestore orientation in spaceIn home, and/or involving a PDA-based GPS system, and/or a robot

“Where’s the kitchen?”“Are you lost? This isn’t the way back home.”“Please follow me to the exercise room.”

IdentificationCompensate for of ability to recognize objects or peopleAC system might “whisper” name to user

“The thing in your hand is a saltshaker.”(By recognizing voice) “That is your Uncle Bob who just spoke.”

Object LocationPerson with Alzheimer may have difficulty in noticing objects, especially if they are out of place

“Where are my eyeglasses?”“I do not think you want to put your eyeglass in the refrigerator.”

Research Goals

Research TopicsPlan and behavior recognition in the real world

uncertaintyplans with errors

Cooperative planning and execution with an cognitively-impaired partnerRepresenting and refining commonsense knowledge about everyday tasksObject tracking – using vision, sound, direct object sensing

Topics, continuedUser interfaces for people with Alzheimer’s

(Then might make a computer usable by ordinary people too)

Robust person/face/voice recognitionRobotic caregivers

A special kind of user interface to a AC system

Evaluation

Related Efforts

Area Heating UpGeorgia Tech “Aware Home”MIT Media Lab / U. Rochester Center for Future HealthCMU/Pitt Nursebot ProjectU. Colorado Adaptive House

Resources at UW

Computer ScienceArtificial intelligenceUbiquitous computingOther CS areas?Intel Lab, Intel People & PracticesMSRInformation Science

Medical CommunityUW Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC)UW Medical CenterUW Center on AgingSchools of Medicine, Nursing, Health & Public Policy

Next Steps

The Three Ingredients of Success

IdeasMore brainstorming needed!Want to help paddle, or just look out for rocks? Email kautz@cs.washington.edu.

MoneyNSF ITR coming up Nov 13th (soon!)

StudentsHelp us define and create this vision!

End of Alzheimer’s in our Lifetime?

Some scientists believe a vaccine effective in preventing Alzheimer’s can be developed

Dale Schenk – knock-out mice

Assisted Cognition Systems could also help people suffering from traumatic brain injuries, mental retardation, stroke, ...