Jesse Hoey and team working on an emotionally supportive virtual assistant that could help people with Alzheimer’s disease

Monday, August 14, 2017

Computer scientists at the University of Waterloo are creating a prototype of a virtual assistant to help people living with Alzheimer’s disease. It will prompt them to complete day-to-day tasks by taking the person’s personality and current state of mind into consideration. The technology could also one day help people with Down Syndrome, various types of dementia and traumatic brain injury.

Known as ACT@Home, the emotionally intelligent assistant is a research project to develop a home-based technology that combines artificial intelligence with social psychological models.

The research was conducted in collaboration with the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging, and was supported by AGE-WELL NCE Inc., a member of the Networks of Centres of Excellence program,  and the American Alzheimer’s Society.

[Waterloo News]