The project goal was to design a product that help people that suffer from dementia and the people around them. Dealing with such a challenging target group, requires good and thorough user research. By combining extensive desk research with face to face contact with the target group, we were able to generate a clear picture of the complexity.

Dementia, being an irreversible and ongoing disease, can't be cured. Nonetheless, we can try to make life as good as possible for people dealing suffering dementia and their relatives.
Two main points that came out of the research were; the lack of time awareness and the low self-esteem demented people have.

At set times, the interactive owl Pedro will talk to the person about customizable topics like news items or telling it is time for breakfast, coffee or diner. This way, Pedro adds the missing structure in to the lives of demented elderly and can relieve some pressure off of the care takers and family.

As an extent, Pedro is able to link these topics to the personal past of the demented elderly, bringing up those good old memories. This function is based on a technique called reminiscence, which is used more often in dementia treatments.

Although it hasn't been scientifically proven, care takers believe that reminiscence slows down the dementia. What can be proven is that talking about their memories with others, gives the demented elderly more self-respect. Because they're aware they still have nice memories they can share, their mood flourish and they become happier people.

Our prototype was tested at a nursing home and got good feedback from both the demented as the care takers. It showed the potential of a product like this and is worth developing further.

The reason Pedro is an interactive owl is based on several researches conducted by others in the same field. Although it might seen odd at first sight, demented elderly have responded remarkably well to other animal-like robotics. A documentary about one of these products can be seen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl6vbuxgSRI

Apparently the videoplayer keeps having an error, so here is a YouTube link to a short clip of our prototype; www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCaZnszJXlc