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People with dementia deserve to enjoy their life without having to always rely on their family members and caregivers. We noticed lack of any assistive technology (whether available in the market or open source) that provides a solution to difficulties a person with dementia may face throughout their everyday life at home settings, that respects their dignity and privacy as well.
Someone in the world develops dementia every 3 seconds. Dementia is a chronic or persistent disorder of the mental processes caused by brain disease or injury and marked by memory disorders, personality changes, and impaired reasoning. Most assistive technologies available for people with dementia are in the realm of location monitoring and tracking devices. Many of these applications suggest solutions to wandering, which is a common problem in people with dementia. Individuals with dementia and their caregivers suffer from high levels of stress, and there has not been enough research around assistive technology that helps people who suffer from dementia have more comfort, peace of mind, and assistance at home settings, while respecting their privacy and ethical rights.
We saw an opportunity to design a customizable, personal assistant that runs on a portable or mobile device, such as a tablet or smartphone, that accompanies the user all day, everyday, and helps them perform tasks such as finding a specific room in their home, cooking, or recognising their surroundings easier, with less trouble and more peace of mind.
,1. Nina, a 53 year old University Professor with a Phd degree in psychology, was diagnosed with Alzhimer's disease 2 years ago! She started remembering less and less, to the point that she sometimes has a hard time finding her way from her living room to her bathroom or kitchen. She is aware enough to know about her illness and recognize her family memebers and friends, but she cannot remember directions, and places.
2. Tina, Nina's daughter, is a 25 year old Electrical Engineer that has a full time job, lives with Nina, and loves her mother and constantly feels worried for her. She has been looking for an assistive technology to help Nina feel more at ease when she is not home.
In general, MEMOME can be used by people with dementia and their caregivers.
We started ideating using pen and paper!
Because of the nature of the app, we went for a simple design, centered around the need of target users to get the information they need fast and easy.
This design aims to use affordable and easily accessble materials, and customization process. That being said, we decided to as a part of installation instructions, have the caregiver install arrowed LED string lights on all walls in the house, to help directing the user to target locations.
The app takes auditory and tactile input, and produces visual, suditory outputs, along with the LED lights for direction, to support users with possible disabilities.
Here is a lo-fi prototype on paper.
MEMOME is designed for a tablet device or smart phone, that is permanently located somewhere central in the house. The device should be dedicated to be used with this app only, since unless it is always plugged in, the app might not do all the help it is meant to.
Caregivers to the person with dementia may use the instructions that come with the app to install string lights that are attached to the walls all around the house, for location-finding purpose.
Nina (person with dementia) is at home watching TV, while Tina (Nina's caregiver) is at work. Nina wants to use the washroom, but she cannot remember where it is located inside the house.
Since the app is always on stand-by and it is customized to listen for Nina's instructions, it responds once Nina calls for help!
The app will ask Nina what she needs help with.
Nina inputs that she'd like to use the washroom, and the app confirms this choice, and asks if she wants to get directions to the washroom.
If she responds yes, the app wants to make sure she follows the lights.
Or, in case she remembers it, or she changes her mind,
After Nina uses the washroom, the assistant will follow up to make sure she is okay.
Is Nina responds with "Yes", then we will go back to Step 1, and if she responds with "No", the app goes back to stand-by mode.
If Nina feels confused or uncomfortable during any of these steps, she always has the option of calling for help, or calling her caregiver.
This scenario prototype is available here with more choices and interactivity.
You can see in this example how the assistant is personalized, and easy to use, demanding no prior memory or learning for the user.
This prototype was made using Sketch and Invision.
Sara Azari
Sara Akhavan