Expert systems for guidance of cognitively impaired people performing daily living activities

A system for developing computerized activity guidance for people with cognitive impairments has been successfully used to guide users independently through tasks that they could not otherwise perform without human assistance. A major shortcoming of this technology has been its inability to adjust and adapt automatically to the capabilities of a range of users or a single user over time. The design of the next-generation system, which will use the Soar cognitive architecture to overcome limitations of the current system, is presented. Soar brings together in a single system many of the capabilities necessary to create an expert system for activity guidance. It has demonstrated general problem-solving and learning capabilities, interaction with humans, and the ability to model complex tasks, environments, and humans