| Abstract |
In the 21st century the Information Society creates new data and opportunities for the evolution, prosperity and quality of life. Its expansion is founded on the rapid progress of the information and communication technologies. In the context of the Information Society, the development of tools and applications for all user groups regardless their age, disability, geographic isolation or financial and social disadvantages is essential. A distinctive user group is that of the elderly people who have as a common health problem the loss of memory. Given that, in the recent years, the mobile phones and the Pocket PCs constitute an integral part of our life, as well as of the life of the old aged, the development of memory aids to such appliances for the elderly is necessary. However, most of the applications promoted so far include many complex functions and address mainly adults and not the elderly with a great familiarity with technology. The object of this current project is the design and development of a Pocket PC memory aid for the elderly with memory and vision problems. Its main target is a simple and practical application which will not only help the elderly organize their everyday work and buying but will also enable them to have an easy access to useful personal data and emergency numbers. Particular emphasis was given to the structure and colours of the application, granted that the majority of the elderly have difficulty in using such applications. The design of this application was based both on application design guidelines that concern the elderly and on guidelines for the development of applications in a Pocket PC. As far as the applications development is concerned, the Smart Devices Programmability Features of Visual Studio .NET, as well as the SQL Server 2000 were used; this use is necessitated by the fact that the basic feature of the application is the ability to control all the data, using a central server on a desktop PC, so that there is the possibility of the introduction, deletion and changes of the data by any relative of the old aged, in case the user is unable to use the PC by oneself, due to old page or any disease. At the end of the project an evaluation of the application trough the participation of experts was carried out. The analysis of the results shoed that the application constitutes a useful and practical tool that can improve the daily routine of the elderly that face memory problems.
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Βοήθημα μνήμης σε Pocket PC για ηλικιωμένους με προβλήματα μνήμης και όρασης
