Project Overview

People with dementia are keen to continue their everyday activities but require support to do so. It is established that people with dementia can benefit from current digital technologies such as smartphones and tablets, which have functions that we all rely on to help us manage our daily lives, such as calendars, schedulers and reminders as well as the social and communication functions. Newer devices, including Mixed Reality technologies, such as virtual reality and augmented reality, offer additional functions that could support people with dementia, but these have not been fully investigated. This study will examine the feasibility of Mixed Reality Technologies for use by people with dementia. This will include several different technologies that link the physical and virtual worlds in different ways, i.e. through headsets, screens and physical objects. We will invite 30 people with dementia to play a selection of games on different devices and observe them while they play. We will video-record their interactions and end the session with an interview about their experience interacting with the devices and games. The data will help us to identify which types of interaction are easiest, most comfortable and enjoyable for people with dementia. It will also tell us what does not work and what people do not like. This information will enable us to develop a framework for using Mixed Reality technologies to provide prompts and support to people with dementia in their everyday activities.