Titulo Estágio
Tangible VR Book for Therapy
Local do Estágio
DEI-FCTUC
Enquadramento
The Tangible VR Book [1, 2] is a tangible interaction device for smartphone-based Virtual Reality (VR) experiences. (Videos about the device can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFNzafHmJdWu2xvgJVOaY2zgIYXKeAiAk). The Tangible VR Book is similar to a physical book with thick pages that contain visual markers on each page. This roughly keeps the same affordances as those of a normal book, given the book can be picked up to inspect the front and back cover, to turn pages, to bring closer or farther away from one's eyes for reading. These affordances are the same for the virtual representation of the VR book.
The first prototype of the Tangible VR Book was developed in the scope of a collaboration with the project “Digital 3D Reconstruction of the Monastery of Santa Cruz in 1834”, and implemented using a Web-based VR framework: A-Frame. The aim of the VR Book in this context was to allow the exploration of 360º images of the resulting digital reconstruction, as well as inspecting selected 3D models.
In the current project we aim to leverage the potential of Tangible VR Books, such as the one described above, to facilitate Reminiscence Therapy [7] for People with Dementia (PwD). In particular, we aim to develop Tangible VR life story books that could be used in Reminiscence Therapy sessions tailored to the specific person, who the life book is about [3-8].
Reminiscence Therapy uses storytelling, conversations, and activities to help PwD remember events, people, and places of their lives, undergoing a life review process. In this context it is common to find personal life story books that collect personal autobiographical memorabilia, such as photos, songs, and movies, that can then be used to help the PwD retrieve distant past memories into present awareness. In turn these can promote the well-being of PwD and delay their institutionalization.
Objetivo
Explore and understand the potential of VR to support Reminiscence Therapy in Dementia
Conceptualize, design and prototype a proof of concept of a personalizable Tangible VR book for Reminiscence Therapy
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 1
Study the implementation of the existing Tangible VR Book
Review the literature on the use of VR for Reminiscence Therapy
Identify different types of media contents that may be useful in a Reminiscence Therapy context, from literature to videos and interviews with caregivers and therapists
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 2
Define the requirements for a companion configuration application that will be used to define and control the personalized contents of the VR Book application
Explore the design space, prototype, and develop a proof of concept for Tangible VR book for Reminiscence Therapy. Important aspects to bear in mind include: the narrative and the transition between different type of content (video vs. audio vs. pictures, etc)
Write a scientific article about the proposed application of the Tangible VR Book
Write dissertation
Condições
Candidates should ideally be proficient in reading and writing in English knowledgeable in Web technologies interested in VR technologies
This dissertation is co-supervised with Jorge Cardoso (jorgecardoso@dei.uc.pt)
Observações
Bibliography
[1] Cardoso, J. C. S., & Ribeiro, J. M. (2021). Tangible VR Book: Exploring the Design Space of Marker-Based Tangible Interfaces for Virtual Reality. Applied Sciences, 11(4), 1367. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11041367
[2] Cardoso, J. C. S., & Ribeiro, J. M. (2020). VR Book : A Tangible Interface for Smartphone-based Virtual Reality. In Proceedings of the 17th EAI International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems: Computing, Networking and Services (Mobiquitous 2020).
[3] Elfrink, T., Zuidema, S., Kunz, M., & Westerhof, G. (2018). Life story books for people with dementia: A systematic review. International Psychogeriatrics, 30(12), 1797-1811. doi:10.1017/S1041610218000376
[4] J. Hodge, M. Balaam, S. Hastings, and K. Morrissey, “Exploring the design of tailored virtual reality experiences for people with dementia,” Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings, vol. 2018-April, pp. 1–13, 2018, doi: 10.1145/3173574.3174088.
[5] J. Hodge, K. Montague, S. Hastings, and K. Morrissey, “Exploring media capture of meaningful experiences to support families living with dementia,” Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings, pp. 1–14, 2019, doi: 10.1145/3290605.3300653.
[6] Kim, O., Pang, Y. & Kim, JH. The effectiveness of virtual reality for people with mild cognitive impairment or dementia: a meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry 19, 219 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-019-2180-x
[7] Robert N. Butler (1963) The Life Review: An Interpretation of Reminiscence in the Aged, Psychiatry, 26:1, 65-76, DOI: 10.1080/00332747.1963.11023339
[8] How older adults respond to the use of Virtual Reality for enrichment: a systematic review
KS Thach, R Lederman, J Waycott
Orientador
DEI | CISUC, University of Coimbra
paulasilva@dei.uc.pt 📩