Recreating living experiences from past memories through virtual worlds for people with dementia

This paper describes a study aimed to understand the use of 3D virtual world (VW) technology to support life engagement for people with dementia in long-term care. Three versions of VW prototypes (reminiscence room, virtual tour and gardening) utilising gestured-base interaction were developed iteratively. These prototypes were tested with older residents (80+) with dementia in care homes and their caregivers. Data collection was based on observations of how the residents and care staff interacted collaboratively with the VW. We discussed in depth the use of VWs in stimulating past memories and how this technology could help enhance their sense of self through various means. We also highlighted key approaches in designing VWs to sustain attention, create ludic experiences and facilitate interaction for older people with dementia

Supporting stimulation needs in dementia care through wall-sized displays

Beside reminiscing, the increasing cognitive decline in dementia can also be addressed through sensory stimulation allowing the immediate, nonverbal engagement with the world through one’s senses. Much HCI work has prioritized cognitive stimulation for reminiscing or personhood often on small screens, while less research has explored sensory stimulation like the one enabled by large displays. We describe a year-long deployment in a residential care home of a wall-sized display, and explored its domestication through 24 contextual interviews. Findings indicate strong engagement and attachment to the display which has inspired four psychosocial interventions using online generic content. We discuss the value of these findings for personhood through residents’ exercise of choices, the tension between generic/personal content and its public/private use, the importance of participatory research approach to domestication, and the infrastructure-based prototype, illustrated by the DementiaWall and its generative quality

A framework and serious game to support those with mild cognitive impairment

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonCognitive decline is common in the elderly. As a result, a range of cognitive rehabilitation games have been proposed to supplement or replace traditional rehabilitative training by offering benefits such as improved engagement. This research project focuses on mild cognitive impairment (MCI), an initial stage of cognitive decline that does not affect functioning in daily life, but which may progress towards more serious cognitive deteriorations, notably dementia. Unfortunately, while a variety of serious game frameworks and rehabilitative serious games have been proposed, there is a distinct lack of those which support the distinctive characteristics of MCI patients. Consequently, to optimise the advantages of serious games for MCI, the research proposes the MCI-GaTE (MCI-Game Therapy Experience) framework that may be used to develop serious games as effective cognitive and physical rehabilitation tools. The framework is derived from a combination of a survey of related research literature in the area, analysis of resident profiles from a nursing home, and in-depth interviews with occupational therapists (OTs) who work with MCI patients on a daily basis to help them overcome the disabling effects so that they can carry out everyday tasks. The conceptual framework comprises four sectors that may be used to guide game design and development: an MCI player profile that represents the capabilities of a player with MCI, core gaming elements that support gameful and playful activities, therapeutic elements that support cognitive and physical rehabilitation through tasks and scenarios according to the player’s abilities, and motivational elements to enhance the player’s attitude towards the serious tasks. Together, they provide tailored support for rehabilitation needs and may also serve as a set of comprehensive and established criteria by which an MCI serious game may be evaluated. To demonstrate the use of MCI-GaTE, an immersive and gesture-based serious game, A go!, is designed that exploits the framework to enable MCI-diagnosed players to undertake a series of tailored therapeutic tasks supported by an assigned OT. To this end, a goal-directed design approach is employed, whereby personas, scenarios and journey maps are developed that satisfy the goals of both the MCI player and their OT, and enable the derivation of functional requirements leading to a visual design. A-go! is realised as a responsive and interactive high-fidelity prototype that supports gesture recognition and 3D game objects from a first-person perspective to facilitate immersion without the need for additional worn devices, such as headsets, which would prove impractical for the targeted elderly players. Evaluation with OTs revealed that the immersive game potentially offers more effective and tailored support to MCI patients than traditional methods, contributing new possibilities for enhancing MCI rehabilitative training, while a comparative assessment of MCI-GaTE demonstrated that it provides a comprehensive approach not currently offered by state-of-the-art rehabilitative frameworks.GRACE Healthcare Ltd. & Hong Kong Caritas in Evergreen Home and Integrated Home Care Services, TWGHs Fung Yiu King Hospital HA, Kwai Chung Hospital HA, and TWGHs Jockey Club Rehabilitation Comple