MEMOS: A Mobile Extensible Memory Aid System

Memory disturbances are a frequent outcome of brain damages. Maintenance or enhancement of the patients' quality of life requires enormous effort on the part of caregivers. To support patients with brain injuries, the mobile distributed care system named MEMOS (Mobile Extensible Memory System) was designed, implemented, and tested in the day-care clinic for cognitive neurology at Leipzig University. MEMOS is implemented as a distributed system, using CORBA technologies and Enterprise Java Beans. A special palmtop computer, the Personal Memory Assistant (PMA), reminds the patient of important tasks and supervises the patient's actions. The PMA communicates with the stationary care system via a bi-directional cellular radio connection. The stationary care system was developed to be dependable and scalable. This paper describes the design and function of the MEMOS system.