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Human Centered Design - Second International Conference, HCD 2011, Held as Part of HCI International 2011, Orlando, FL, USA, July 9-14, 2011. Proceedings; 01/2011
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Computers Helping People with Special Needs, 12th International Conference, ICCHP 2010, Vienna, Austria, July 14-16, 2010, Proceedings, Part II; 01/2010
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Interacting with Computers. 01/2010; 22:267-275.
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Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Addressing Diversity, 5th International Conference, UAHCI 2009, Held as Part of HCI International 2009, San Diego, CA, USA, July 19-24, 2009. Proceedings, Part I; 01/2009
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Universal Access in the Information Society. 01/2009; 8:49-58.
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ABSTRACT: CIRCA lets those with short-term memory loss draw on reminiscences to converse with relatives and caregivers. The system, which software engineers, psychologists,and designers developed with caregiver input, features a touch screen that displays photos, music, video, text, and other materials to help those with dementia access long-term memory. This paper presents a communication support system for older people with dementia.
Computer 06/2007; · 1.47 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: People with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) experience progressive degeneration of cognitive skills and the cumulative loss of short-term memory function. This severely impairs their ability to communicate with relatives and caregivers. The 'dehumanizing' effect that is engendered by the loss of communication skills, and the subsequent psychological and emotional distress experienced by people with AD and their caregivers are perhaps the most significant and detrimental psycho-social characteristics of AD. This paper demonstrates how our multidisciplinary, user-centred approach to design for computer-based assistive tools for people with AD can support progressive, non-pharmacological intervention and promote improved quality of life in dementia care environments.
Design Journal, The 02/2007; 10(1):12-23.
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Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Ambient Interaction, 4th International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction, UAHCI 2007 Held as Part of HCI International 2007 Beijing, China, July 22-27, 2007 Proceedings, Part II; 01/2007
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Extended abstracts of the 2004 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2004, Vienna, Austria, April 24 - 29, 2004; 01/2004
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EUROSPEECH 2001 Scandinavia, 7th European Conference on Speech Communication and Technology, 2nd INTERSPEECH Event, Aalborg, Denmark, September 3-7, 2001; 01/2001
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ABSTRACT: Progressive and irreversible cognitive impairments affect the ability of people with dementia to communicate and interact with caregivers. This places a burden on caregivers to initiate and manage interactions to the extent that they may avoid all but essential communication. CIRCA is an interactive, multimedia touch screen system that contains a wide range of stimuli to prompt reminiscing. The intention is that people with dementia and caregivers will explore CIRCA together, using the recollections sparked by the media as the basis for conversations. This paper reports an evaluation of the utility of CIRCA looking particularly at whether CIRCA can meet the needs of both people with dementia and caregivers to engage in mutually satisfying interactions. The findings confirm that people with dementia can use the touch screen system and that the contents prompt them to reminisce. The system also supports caregivers to interact with people with dementia as more equal participants in the conversation. The results suggest that interacting with the touch screen system is engaging and enjoyable for people with dementia and caregivers alike and provides a supportive interaction environment that positively benefits their relationships.
Interacting with Computers.
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ABSTRACT: Computers may have the potential to augment human cognitive processes in ways that could be beneficial for people with dementia. This possibility is being investigated by a multidisciplinary team. Previous work on improving the performance of augmentative communication systems for non-speaking people has shown the value of conversation modelling and prompting in this setting. The impairment of short-term memory with dementia causes serious difficulties in communication. A conversation support and prompting system is being developed based on an interactive multimedia reminiscence presentation. Reminiscence has been chosen as a basis for the conversations because long-term memories can remain relatively intact with dementia, even where short-term memory is ineffective. Initial trials of the system involving people with dementia and their carers have shown that such a system can maintain the interest and active participation of a person with dementia, and increase carers' enjoyment of the interaction. Further work will focus on directing the impact of multimedia towards increasing the quantity and quality of the communication taking place.
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ABSTRACT: Non-speaking people often rely on AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) devices to assist them to communicate. These AAC devices are slow to operate, however, and as a result conversations can be very difficult and frequently break down. This is especially the case when the conversation partner is unfamiliar with this method of communication, and is a big obstacle to many people when they wish to conduct simple everyday transactions. A way of improving the performance of AAC devices by using scripts is discussed. A prototype system to test this idea was constructed, and a preliminary experiment performed with promising results. A practical AAC device which incorporates scripts was then developed, and is described.
Natural Language Engineering 4(1):57-71. · 0.43 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Dementia is a growing problem that affects the lives of those diagnosed and caregivers, with symptoms having an effect on memory, communication, the ability to learn new skills and problems with behaviour, such as aggression, agitation and depression. Participation in activities can improve quality of life for people with dementia, reducing behavioural problems and aiding relaxation. Research has established that people with dementia can be both artistically and musically creative, and have an appreciation of music even in the latter stages of the disease. The symptoms of the disease, however, mean that supporting music making activities with this group of people is challenging. This paper describes a prototype system designed to enable people with dementia to create music, using a touch screen interface to control a system which utilises chords to create pleasant-sounding music regardless of any prior musical knowledge. Results of usability studies suggest the system is easy to use, and that pleasant-sounding music can be created with it. Participants, including people with dementia, appeared actively engaged during use of the system, many reporting they enjoyed the experience. Future testing will establish the degree to which people with dementia could be musically creative using such a system.
Computers in Human Behavior.
