Virtual Beings for Alzheimer's
Research Project: Testing Virtual Beings to engage
Alzheimer's and memory loss patients with Art and Media
PARTNERS:
Ontario Brain Institute
Sheldon Memory Lab at McGill University
Screen Industries Research and Training Centre (SIRT)
Centre for Elder Research (CER)
If you have interest in collaborating or helping fund this project please contact us.
Reimagine AI, the Sheldon Memory Lab at McGill University and SIRT are embarking on a project to bring art, comfort and companionship to people suffering from Alzheimer's disease and memory loss.
Our goal is to build a tablet-based interactive artificial intelligence virtual being that can assist with two of the major problems confronting patients with dementia, namely Alzheimer's disease, their caregivers, and their loved ones.
Comfort :
Alzheimer’s patients often lose the ability to enjoy the simple pleasures of life; music, poetry, books, art, the ability to watch their favorite movie or TV show. As the disease progresses, they become unable to operate technology and navigate physical objects -- those simulations, pleasures and memories become lost for them.
Companionship:
Patients with Alzheimer's disease and related forms of dementia often will ask the same questions over and over, wearing out their caregivers. When the caregiver is not able to meet their social needs, the patients quickly become lonely and agitated as they do not know how long they have been alone and immediately need someone who they know to talk to in order to maintain connection and calm.