Core Memories

Record and retell your inspiring core memories.

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Inspiration

My grandmother couldn't read or write, but she sure could tell stories. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. I wanted to build something for grandparents like her who may have access to Amazon Alexa. I love the idea that some of the intents can be turned into habits so that users can regularly retell and recall stories.

"About 1 in 9 people (10.7%) age 65 and older have Alzheimer's disease", according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Roughly half of that demographic can read and write in the USA [1]. Nobody wants to forget core memories. People can use habitual retelling to reinforce their core memories like a muscle [2]. Most of our favorite memories live as spoken stories. Let's reconnect with them.

What it does

Stay sharp and remember the great times in life with loved ones.

  • "Alexa, open core memories" - opens the app
  • "Provide me a prompt" - provides a thoughtful prompt (e.g. "Share about a fun vacation with your friends or family.", etc.)
  • "Record a story" - shows you how to record a story
  • "Record {your story}" - records your story
  • "Retell a story" - retells a random story

This can also be used in Alexa habits or routines:

  • ”Waking up” and be reminded of a core memo
  • “Going to sleep ” and be reminded to record a memory

What we learned

This is my first time making an Alexa Skill and I'm proud of it!

What's next for Core Memories

I'm thinking another intent would allow for the user to make a call to people who were mentioned in their memories. I can't wait to see the usage on this go up because this will be really fun for the 65+ audience.

References:

[1] Xue, Yanmin, and Yuanle Zhang. "Research on the design of intelligent cognitive training products for the elderly." Journal of Physics: Conference Series. Vol. 1601. No. 5. IOP Publishing, 2020. [2] U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2019). Highlights of the 2017 U.S. PIAAC Results Web Report (NCES 2020-777) and PIAAC International Highlights Web Report (NCES 2020-127).

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