Sas , C., Davies, N., Clinch, S,. Shaw, P., Mikusz, M., Steeds, M., Nohrer, L. (2020) Supporting Stimulation Needs in Dementia Care through Wall-Sized Displays. Accepted into Workshop at The ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2020)

Following up on the deployment of the Wall-sized display that was installed into the Heathfield Ladies Residential Home by researchers at Lancaster University and University of Manchester, a paper reporting findings from the initial year of the deployment has now been accepted into an international conference on Human-Computer Interaction (CHI 2020) set to be presented in April 2020.

Abstract:
Beside reminiscing, the increasing cognitive decline in dementia can also be addressed through sensory stimulation allowing the immediate, nonverbal engagement with the world through one’s senses. Much HCI work has prioritised cognitive stimulation for reminiscing or personhood often on small screens, while less research has explored sensory stimulation like the one enabled by large displays. We describe a year-long deployment in a residential care home of a wall-sized display, and explored its domestication through 24 contextual interviews. Findings indicate strong engagement and attachment to the dis¬play which has inspired four psychosocial interventions using online generic content. We discuss the value of these findings for personhood through residents’ exercise of choices, the ten-sion between generic/personal content and its public/private use, the importance of participatory research approach to domestication, and the infrastructure-based prototype, illustrated by the DementiaWall and its generative quality.