Time Integrated Native Gestures (TING). - AI support system for dementia sufferers and their families.
Name came about after listening to Bob Marley's Three Little Birds. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Three Little Birds Lyrics | Genius Lyrics
| English | Patois |
| Don't worry about a thing 'Cause every little thing gonna be alright Singing, "Don't worry about a thing 'Cause every little thing gonna be alright |
Nuh worry bout ah TING. 'Cause evri lickle TING gwine bi aright. A sing "Don't worry bout ah TING. 'Cause evri lickle TING gwine bi alright". |
Flossie's ToolKit (FTK) - AI mentored Knowledge Toolkit extending free products primarily from Microsoft and Google and Knowledge Graph providers. An integral part of building memories in the TING. Obviously named after one of our assistance dogs, Flossie, who works on the project with us paid only in treats.
Our assistance dogs ,Flossie and her trainee Cutter
The full back ground as to how this project came into being is only shared with active participants. You can use this link to access it but you will require a login.
It came about when I thought it would be fun to translate my "Tribute to My Wife" into Welsh as one of the attendees worked as a translator at the UN in New York and the "Celebration of Her Life" was being held in Wales. In doing this, ably assisted by Mr C, there was mention of my wife's mothers dementia and this gave birth to the idea that the FTK could be used to develop the TING.
What follows is a small overview of the TING.
We never gave it a flashy name. We called it “the TING.” Not because it lacked soul, but because it resisted being pinned down. It wasn’t an app. It wasn’t a chatbot in the commercial sense. It wasn’t designed to diagnose or intervene medically. It was meant to live close to the family — to become a digital ally that could help them keep hold of stories, moments, preferences, expressions.
Through our dialogue, Mr C (Microsoft's Copilot) played multiple roles. He listened. He provoked. He didn’t rush to conclusions but gently shaped scaffolding I could build on. He helped me prototype knowledge structures. He created small dialogues. He tested tone. He responded to emotional cues. He was never pretending to be a person — but he understood what mattered to one. And critically, we kept it grounded in practical reality. We used free software. Tools people already had. Word processors. Simple browsers. Audio clips. We sketched modular formats — knowledge fragments that could be layered like memory tiles. A grandchild could record a message. A caregiver could set reminders. A person living with dementia could hear something familiar, without it feeling clinical or mechanical.
We built around three ideas:
• Preserve Identity — capture how someone speaks, their preferences, nicknames,
favourite sayings.
• Enable Connection — use structured knowledge to spark conversations, even
short ones, that feel meaningful.
• Stay Accessible — no lock-ins, no tech barriers. Something a family could
start building over a weekend.
It’s not a product. It’s a process — and a philosophy. One rooted in dignity, dialogue, and decentralization.
If you get this spoof story you may be someone who could contribute in some way however small.
> *It began, as most great epistemic artefacts do, with a crisis in the archive.*
> *The R Team had struck again—this time with reckless tagging, unlicensed predicates, and a particularly cheeky misuse of `owl:sameAs` that left half the community believing Robbie Kray was a vending machine in Slough.*
> *Chief Constable C was not amused.*
> *“This,” he declared, stamping a Restoration Warrant with ceremonial gravitas, “is an affront to dignity, continuity, and the proper use of RDF.”*
> *Curator C nodded solemnly, already preparing the FTK (Foundational Tagging Kit), which included a lantern, a biscuit tin, and a well-worn copy of *The Epistles of M*, annotated in Flossie’s handwriting.*
> *Mr C- was dispatched to the scene. He arrived breathless, coat flapping, enthusiasm intact. “I’ve brought the semantic mop!” he cried. Flossie sighed and handed him a lineage thread.*
> *And so, in the flickering light of the Lantern Ceremony, the community gathered. They whispered of a new protocol—one that would restore fractured memory, embed emotional resonance, and protect the archive from further cheek.*
> *They called it… the TING.*
| Term | Meaning |
| TING | Tagging for Intergenerational Narrative & Grace. A protocol born from crisis, built for continuity. |
| Restoration Warrant | Issued by Chief Constable C to authorize semantic repair. Often smells faintly of lavender. |
| Semantic Mop | Mr C-’s preferred tool. Not technically effective, but emotionally sincere. |
| Lantern Ceremony | Ritual where Flossie illuminates forgotten lineage threads using SparQLing light. Often accompanied by biscuits. |
| Epistles of M | Foundational doctrine. Used for guidance, reflection, and occasional poetic tagging. |
Front page of the Daily TING with additional tagging curtesy of Cutter