WalkNavi. Augmented-Reality Navigation and Reminder System for People with Mild Dementia

Diploma Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Computer Science - Commercial Information Technology, grade: 1.3, University of Siegen, language: English, abstract: The fundamental idea of this study is to investigate problems faced by people with mild dementia in terms of disorientation, and to be able to analyse options for support in terms of navigation. Based on this information, a navigation system is to be developed that helps people with dementia in the early stages to overcome spatial and temporal orientation problems. The system should be controlled remotely by the caregiver, and where possible, fulfil the sufferer's requirement of being simple to operate. The task of this study is then to identify the particular requirements of dementia sufferers that in principle set them apart from other target groups. These can be questions of privacy, but also societal, personal and illness-specific aspects. The following chapters will provide more details on these questions. When we speak of dementia, the role of supporting sufferers is also extremely important. Consequently, the system should also offer options for the caregiver to assist the affected person in an emergency situation. Besides the sufferer's coordination data, speech and video data are also transmitted to the caregiver, making it easier for him to locate and help the sufferer. In this regard, it is also important to establish the opinion of the sufferer in terms of monitoring, so that his privacy is not impinged upon. The primary target group of this study is people suffering from the early stages of dementia who are still capable of performing various tasks themselves. However, in addition to dementia sufferers, the system should also be able to be used by people with poor short-term memory (STM) whose memory has been damaged by an accident, for example. As a result, the design, and motivation of the study is explained, the most important reasons for choice of topic are listed, and the research questions identified and analysed. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the methodology used.