A case study of NeuroPage: a reminder system for memory-disabled people

NeuroPage is a computer-based reminding system, recently developed in the USA, specifically for memory-disabled people. The aim of the designers was to keep the complexities of operation `behind the scenes´, presenting end-users with a deceptively simple device which avoids the problems of conventional memory aids. It uses a combination of computing and telecommunications to achieve this and is the first memory aid to capitalise on this technology. The NeuroPage system has three constituents. A centrally-located desktop computer stores schedules of reminder messages for different users, for any date and time in the future. At the appropriate moment, a message is automatically dispatched via a modem to a commercial paging company and transmitted within seconds to the appropriate pager. The paging device alerts the wearer to the incoming message by bleeping or vibration. The device has just one button to press which simultaneously cancels the alert signal and displays the reminder message on the 80-character screen