ABSTRACT

In the development of assistive technology for people with dementia, numerous physiological, anatomical and psychological variables should be taken into consideration during the design process. Many of these will not be obvious to those from a purely technical perspective targeting this type of user for the first time. As a result, these important variables only become apparent following user evaluations. Nevertheless, people with dementia can experience high levels of anxiety and confusion if the systems they are engagingwithmalfunction.To a certain extent thismay have the impact of undermining their confidence which may lead to reluctance to try improved versions in ensuing evaluation cycles. This presents a barrier to using users with dementia in participatory design activities early in the design cycle.