🧠 ElderCare Cognitive & Connection Platform

An empathetic, accessible app designed to help elderly individuals track cognitive health, combat loneliness, and reconnect with loved ones through engaging activities and social features.

---

📖 Inspiration

After heartfelt conversations with our grandparents and other elderly individuals, we learned that loneliness, lack of purpose, and cognitive decline are among the most challenging aspects of aging. These conversations inspired us to create a compassionate, user-friendly solution that:

• Helps track cognitive and emotional health
• Facilitates meaningful connections with loved ones and peers
• Provides an engaging, accessible experience for all users

---

✨ Features

🎮 Daily Brain & Mood Games

Interactive exercises inspired by clinical assessments like the Stroop Test and List Recall games to evaluate:

• Attention span
• Memory retention
• Reaction speed
• Cognitive flexibility

📊 Progress Tracking Dashboard

Intuitive visual summaries that display:

• Performance trends over time
• Cognitive improvement metrics
• Mood tracking insights

🤝 Connection Mode

A social circle feature enabling users to:

• Share game results with family and friends
• Send messages and stay connected
• Build a supportive community

🎲 Multiplayer Games with LLM Facilitation

• Play cooperatively or competitively with friends
• AI-powered game host provides conversational, friendly guidance
• Adaptive difficulty based on player performance

♿ Accessibility for the Visually Impaired

• Fish Audio API integration for speech-based interactions
• Audio feedback for all tasks and game results
• Full accessibility for users with limited vision

---

🛠️ Tech Stack

Frontend

• React Native (cross-platform mobile: iOS & Android)

Backend

• Node.js
• Express.js
• JWT authentication for secure sessions

Database

• MongoDB (scalable, secure user data storage)

AI & Audio

• JanitorAI API (conversational game facilitation)
• Fish Audio API (text-to-speech for accessibility)

Additional Tools

• Real-time communication for multiplayer features
• Adaptive LLM prompts for personalized difficulty

---

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• MongoDB
• npm or yarn
• React Native development environment

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/eldercare-app.git
cd eldercare-app

2. Install backend dependencies

cd backend
npm install

3. Install frontend dependencies

cd ../frontend
npm install

4. Configure environment variables Create a .env file in the backend directory:

MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
JANITOR_AI_API_KEY=your_janitorai_key
FISH_AUDIO_API_KEY=your_fish_audio_key
PORT=8000

5. Start the backend server

cd backend
npm start

6. Start the React Native app

cd frontend
npm start
# For iOS
npm run ios
# For Android
npm run android

---

📱 Usage

1. Create an account or log in
2. Complete daily brain games to track cognitive performance
3. Check your dashboard for progress insights
4. Connect with family through the social circle feature
5. Play multiplayer games with friends using the LLM-facilitated game mode

---

🔧 Challenges We Overcame

Accessibility Design

Ensuring games were equally usable for both sighted and visually impaired users required extensive experimentation with audio feedback timing and clarity.

LLM Integration

Calibrating the language model to act as a friendly, helpful "game host" without overwhelming or confusing users was a significant UX challenge that required careful prompt engineering.

Data Visualization

Creating intuitive, non-overwhelming visual representations of cognitive trends for older users took multiple design iterations and user testing.

---

💡 What We Learned

• How technology can bridge generational gaps when designed with empathy and accessibility as core principles
• Best practices for integrating audio-based AI models for accessibility
• Techniques for real-time multiplayer state management
• The importance of designing for underserved user demographics

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Our grandparents and elderly community members who shared their experiences
• Fish Audio for accessibility API support
• JanitorAI for conversational AI capabilities
• The open-source community for invaluable tools and resources