Department of Computational Arts
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
Item Open Access Enhancing prompt perception in dementia: a comparative study of mixed reality cue modalities(Frontiers, 2024-08-09) Desai, Shital; Mutsuddi, Rupsha; Astell, Arlene JIntroduction: Dementia impacts millions worldwide and is challenging individuals' ability to engage in daily activities. Active living is crucial in mitigating dementia's neurodegenerative effects, yet people with dementia often struggle to initiate and complete tasks independently. Technologies offer promising solutions to engage people with dementia in activities of active living and improving their quality of life through prompting and cueing. It is anticipated that developments in sensor and wearable technologies will result in mixed reality technology becoming more accessible in everyday homes, making them more deployable. The possibility of mixed reality technologies to be programmed for different applications, and to adapt them to different levels of impairments, behaviours and contexts, will make them more scalable. Objective: The study aimed to develop a better understanding of modalities of prompts that people with dementia perceive successfully and correctly in mixed reality environments. It investigated interactions of people with dementia with different types of visual (graphics, animation, etc.) and sound (human voice, tones, etc.) prompts in mixed reality technologies. Methods: We used the Research through Design (RtD) method in this study. This paper describes the findings from the user research carried out in the study. We conducted observation studies with twenty-two people with dementia playing games on off-the-shelf mixed reality technologies, including both Augmented Reality (HoloLens, ArKit on iPhone) and Augmented Virtuality (Xbox Kinect and Osmo) technologies. The interactions with the technologies during the gameplay were video recorded for thematic analysis in Noldus Observer XT (version 16.0) for successful and correct perception of prompts. Results: A comparison of the probability estimates of correct perception of the prompts by people with dementia suggests that human voice, graphic symbols and text are the most prominently perceived modalities of prompts. Feedback prompts for every action performed by people with dementia on the technology are critical for successful perception and should always be provided in the design. Conclusion: The study has resulted in recommendations and guidelines for designers to design prompts for people with dementia in mixed-reality environments. The work lays the foundation for considering mixed reality technologies as assistive tools for people with dementia, fostering discussions on their accessibility and inclusive design in technology development.Item Open Access Designing for Human Interactions - Prototyping Resources(2020-03-01) Desai, ShitalItem Open Access Designing for Future Systems(2022-03-03) Desai, ShitalItem Open Access Mixed reality technologies for people with dementia: Participatory evaluation methods(2021-06-07) Desai, Shital; Astell, ArleneTechnologies can support people with early onset dementia (PwD) to aid them in Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL). The integration of physical and virtual realities in Mixed reality technologies (MRTs) could provide scalable and deployable options in developing prompting systems for PwD. However, these emerging technologies should be evaluated and investigated for feasibility with PwD. Survey instruments such as SUS, SUPR-Q and ethnographic methods that are used for usability evaluation of websites and apps are used to evaluate and study MRTs. However, PwD who cannot provide written and verbal feedback are unable to participate in these studies. MRTs also present challenges due to different ways in which physical and virtual realities could be coupled. Experiences with physical, virtual and the couplings between the two are to be considered in evaluating MRTs. This paper presents methods that we have used in our labs – DATE and SaTS, to study the use of MRTs with PwD. These methods are used to understand the needs of PwD and other stake holders as well as to investigate experiences and interactions of PwD with these emerging technologies. (PDF) Mixed reality technologies for people with dementia: Participatory evaluation methods. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352173571_Mixed_reality_technologies_for_people_with_dementia_Participatory_evaluation_methods [accessed Jul 17 2021].Item Open Access Designing for Experiences in Blended Reality Environments for People with Dementia(Springer, Cham, 2020-09-25) Desai, Shital; Fels, Deborah; Astell, ArleneBlended Reality environments have the potential to provide scalable solutions that are affordable, adaptable and easily deployable to support people with dementia. Use of these technologies is associated with experience of presence which is an experience with technologically mediated perceptions that generates a feeling of being there and the illusion of non-mediation. Our study examines what constitutes an experience of presence for people with dementia when they interact with MRTs. An observational study with ten participants (MoCA = 18 to 23, Age = 63 to 88 years) played a game of Tangram on Osmo. Six of these participants also played Young Conker on HoloLens. The experiences of the participants in the digital space, the physical space, and their attention crossover between the two spaces were coded in Noldus Observer XT 14.1. The study found four main themes that have an impact on the experience of presence in PwD – correspondences, effortless access to physical and digital content, awareness of reality and emergence. Correspondences between physical and digital spaces require PwD to have constant information about the state and nature of physical and digital content. The transitions between physical and digital should be seamless. PwD demonstrated positive experiences with Osmo, an augmented Virtuality technology while their experience with HoloLens, augmented reality technology was negative. The factors impacting experience of presence were prominent in Osmo while they were mostly absent in HoloLens throughout the game play. The outcomes of this study have resulted in a set of recommendations and guidelines for designers to design correspondences for experience of presence. We are currently working on developing prototypes using these guidelines for evaluations with PwD.Item Open Access Supporting people with dementia- Understanding their interactions with Mixed Reality Technologies(Design Research Society, 2020-08-11) Desai, Shital; Blackler, Alethea; Fels, Deborah; Astell, Arlene; desai, ShitalEmerging technologies such as Mixed Reality Technologies (MRTs) could offer possibilities to support People with Dementia (PwD). This study examined interactions of PwD with two MRTs - HoloLens and Osmo. Ten participants (MoCA = 18 to 23, Age= 63 to 88 years) played a game of Tangram on Osmo. Six of these participants played Young Conker on HoloLens. The study found that PwD used gestural actions in the physical world more correctly than speech. Audio prompts in human voice were more correctly perceived than visual prompts. Physical affordances, embodied actions and familiarity to verbal instructions contribute to this success. Visual prompts such as text present promising opportunities to complement with audio prompts. Interaction with MRTs require prompts to direct PwD towards physical or virtual worlds. The research outcomes are significant as the focus on interactions of PwD could open up avenues for further research on actions and perceptions with emerging technologies.