Semi-automated personalised VR experience for patients with dementia in a secure psychiatric setting

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eople with severe dementia often require constant care in institutionalised environment. These sorts of situations can have a heavy impact on someone's autonomy, the feeling of constraint - not being able to do what they want. It may be due to their location, restrictions in mobility, legal mental health act restrictions or offence-related restrictions.This PhD programme can positively improve the quality of life of someone in this situation using technology such as Virtual Reality (VR). Due to many patients being in a locked psychiatric hospital, they are not capable of experiencing the world outside that vicinity, because of this, many patient's behaviour may deteriorate due to the amount of restraints in their daily life at how they have limited control of what they can do. Using VR to show patients immersive 360-video could help their mental wellbeing and have a greater sense of autonomy.Capturing data on how the video affects the behaviour and engagement of the patients can determine how they feel about that video. A variety of virtual environments can be given to the patient to choose from such as exotic new places or more familiar locations from a routine in the past. This all can be completed within the hospital environment under supervision and can allow the patient to have a refreshing positive experience.