Built for hands and ears that have been working a long time
The MemoriesBox pendant is designed for the people most products forget: one button that a stiff thumb can press, no screen to read, a battery that lasts weeks, and a place at the collarbone that hears a voice gone quiet. $79 at the early price, shipping 2027.
Facts on this page verified
What this page is, and what it is not
The pendant is $79 at the early price and ships in 2027. This page is about who it is designed for and the failures it is designed against. It is not a specification sheet: the pendant is not in production, and a number that is not final does not appear here. Where something is a design intention rather than a measured fact, it says so.
The failure modes we are designing against
Most technology for older people is designed by people who are not old, tested by people who are not old, and then given to somebody's grandmother with an apology. The list below is the apology, written down in advance so we can be held to it.
| The failure | What causes it | What the pendant does instead |
|---|---|---|
| "I can't find the button" | Six buttons, all the same size, or a touchscreen with no edges | One button, on the side, where a thumb lands. There is no second control to confuse it with |
| "I pressed it and nothing happened" | A short press, a long press and a double press that all do different things | Press to start, press to stop. The same press, every time. Nothing else is a gesture |
| "The screen is too small" | A screen | No screen. It is designed without one, on purpose, because a screen is a thing to fail to read |
| "It's dead again" | A battery that needs charging every night | Up to three weeks on a charge, by a cable that fits most phones now |
| "It can't hear me" | A microphone on a table across the room, and a voice that is quieter than it was | Worn at the collarbone, a hand's width from the mouth. The distance does the work the volume no longer does |
| "I lost it" | A small grey thing that looks like every other small grey thing | It is on a chain, and the app finds it by GPS |
| "I don't know if it's recording" | Silence | The button gives under the thumb, and the app shows what was recorded when it next meets the pendant. An indicator that is unmistakable without being a blinking light is one of the things not yet final |
Arthritis, specifically
A stiff thumb cannot manage a fiddly control, cannot double-tap, and cannot hold a button down for three seconds while a light changes colour. The design rule is that the one button has to work with the side of a thumb, with a knuckle, and through a glove, and that no press has to be timed. How much force it takes, and how far it travels, are the two numbers we will publish when they are measured on the production unit and not before.
Hearing, specifically
Hearing loss is the reason the pendant is a pendant. A recorder on a table asks the person to project across the room, which is tiring, self-conscious, and stops after a sentence. A pendant at the collarbone is where a voice already is. The person speaks at the volume they speak at, to the person they are talking to, and the pendant is simply nearer than anyone else.
It does not play anything back to the wearer. Playback happens in the app, on a phone or a computer, where the volume can be turned up as far as it goes and the transcript can be read instead.
Living alone, which changes everything
About 28% of older adults in the United States — 13.8 million people — live alone (National Institute on Aging, citing the Administration for Community Living). In those homes there is nobody to suggest a recording, nobody to hold the phone, and nobody to notice that the story being told on the phone to a sister on Sunday was the good one.
The pendant is on the person when that story is told. One press. That is why it is worn and not placed.
Until then
The MemoriesBox app already applies the same rules where a phone allows it: one large button, every question read aloud, the text size and the reading voice adjustable in Settings → Accessibility. /guides/recording-quality covers how to sit, where to put the phone, and what to do about a radio in the kitchen. Start there, and reserve the pendant if the button is the point.
Questions people ask
Is the MemoriesBox device suitable for someone with arthritis?
It is designed to be: one side button, pressed the same way every time, with no timed or double presses, meant to work with the side of a thumb or a knuckle. The force and travel of the button will be published when they are measured on the production unit.
Does the device have a screen?
No. It is designed without one. A screen is a thing to fail to read; the pendant has one button and the app on a family member's phone shows what was recorded.
Will it hear someone who speaks quietly?
That is the reason it is a pendant. Worn at the collarbone it is a hand's width from the mouth, so the person speaks at the volume they speak at and the pendant is simply nearer than anyone else in the room.
Can the person hear the recordings back on the pendant?
No; there is no speaker for playback. Recordings play in the MemoriesBox app on a phone or computer, where the volume goes as high as the device allows and every recording has a transcript to read instead.
Related: The device · Setting it up for someone else · For a parent who doesn't use a smartphone · Recording quality
MemoriesBox is $139 a year, hosted in the EU, first 14 days free, cancel anytime. Start here.