Digital Rummage Box for People with Dementia
Staff and funding
Principal investigator: Prof Neil Maiden
Research Staff: Kristine Karlsen
Students: Marwan Kathayer and Khatayi Rabheru
Total funding: £20,000
Funding source: HEIF
Duration: 6 months
Project description
The objective of this project is to innovate, design and implement a prototype digital rummage box personalized to individuals with dementia. Traditionally these boxes contain objects from the past to stimulate and comfort people with dementia, and these objects can range from games and pieces of music to photos and letters. There are several advantages to creating a digital version of a rummage box based on a tablet platform such as an iPad. They include a greater content, and new forms of interaction to stimulate people. This project will design and prototype a new form of digital rummage box that stimulates and comforts people with dementia, supports carers to learn more about people in their care, and enable family and friends to populate and relate content remotely.
The project is associated with the EU-funded Mirror project, in which we are developing computerised creativity support for care staff caring for people with dementia.
Project collaborators
The UK Registered Nursing Home Association (www.rnha.org.uk)