Prompting Systems for older adults with dementia/MCI

辅助提示技术有可能在痴呆症或轻度认知障碍(MCI)的早期阶段支持老年人进行他们通常难以独自完成的活动。成功地采用提示技术(例如音频、视频)可以帮助这类痴呆症(PwDM)患者独立执行日常生活活动(ADL)，如洗衣和烹饪。然而，现有的提示系统是在受控实验室环境中开发的概念的证明。需要的是提示技术，这些技术适应患有MCI的老年人的实际使用环境和需求，而不必调整设置、更改版本或使用黑客。我的研究团队将通过对患有MCI的老年人进行实地研究来应对这一新颖的可用性挑战。我们将使用设计方法中和通过设计方法进行的研究，通过设计方法，研究人员开发交互元素以产生对如何进行设计本身的见解，同时还迭代用户观察、联合设计、焦点小组和采访以研究产生的提示和行动；并开发一系列人工制品，如交互提示系统的草图和原型。研究背景将集中在混合环境(BE)，即虚拟环境与用户的物理世界相结合。将分析定性数据(口头礼仪、调查、行为观察、面部表情、肢体动作和凝视)和定量数据(技术熟悉度分数、认知评估分数、完成任务所需时间)。HQP将在一个多学科的环境中工作(健康、职业治疗、设计、计算机科学)，通过约克大学-TD社区参与中心和多伦多高度多样化的Black Creek大学学习者社区招聘，确保HQP的公平性、多样性和包容性(EDI)。这项研究计划将推动互动提示在现实世界中取得关键进展。在我的实验室为老年人和儿童设计BE以及与他们一起设计BE的基础上，我的研究团队将研究任务排序，以告知何时以及如何生成提示以及交互模式，这些模式1)有助于持续的感知-行动循环；2)响应老年人的技术需求和舒适度，并在他们的障碍背景下；以及3)将自动检测/调整到损伤水平和活动类型。DG下的成果--将代表所需手势动作和多模式提示类型的原型和框架，以及对何时以及如何生成这些提示的理解--将在DG之后被整合到高保真原型中，该原型最终将被开发成全新的辅助/提示系统。结果也可能被转移到户外环境中的技术开发中，例如在驾驶时避免事故。

Assistive prompting technologies have the potential to support older adults in early stages of dementia, or Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), in activities they usually find difficult to complete by themselves. Successful adoption of prompting technologies (e.g., audio, video) can contribute to independence in executing Activities of Daily Living (ADL), such as laundry and cooking, for such people with dementia (PwDM). However, existing prompting systems are proof of concepts developed in controlled lab settings. Needed are prompting technologies that adapt to the actual context of use and needs of older adults with MCI without having to adjust settings, change versions or use hacks. My research team will respond to the novel usability challenge through field research with older adults with MCI. We will use the research in and through design method, a variant of Research through Design (RtD), by which a researcher develops interactive elements to generate insights into how to carry out the design itself, while also iterating user observations, codesign, focus groups and interviews to study resulting prompts and actions; and developing a series of artefacts, such as sketches and prototypes of interactive prompting systems. The research setting will centre on blended environments (BE), in which the virtual environment integrates with the user's physical world. Qualitative data (verbal protocols, surveys, behaviour observation, facial expressions, body movements and gaze) and quantitative data (technology familiarity scores, cognitive assessment scores, time taken to complete a task) will be analyzed. HQP will work in a multidisciplinary environment (Health, Occupational Therapy, Design, Computer Science) that ensures HQP equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) by recruiting through the York University-TD Community Engagement Centre and the highly diverse Black Creek community of university learners in Toronto. This research program will drive pivotal real-world advances in interactive prompting. Building on my lab's work in designing BE for and with older adults and children, my research team will study task sequencing to inform when and how prompts should be generated and interaction modalities that 1) contribute to continuous perception-action loops; 2) respond to older adults' technology needs and comfort levels and in the context of their impairments; and 3) that will detect/adjust automatically to impairment level and type of activity. The outcomes under the DG--prototypes and frameworks that will be representative of types of gestural actions and multimodal prompts needed, along with an understanding of when and how these prompts should be generated--will be integrated after the DG into a high-fidelity prototype that will ultimately be developed into whole new assistive/prompting systems. Outcomes may also be transferrable to development of technologies in outdoor settings, such as in accident avoidance while driving.