Augmented Reality Navigation Interfaces Designed for People with Mild Dementia

Abstract: Navigation can prove a real challenge for a person suffering from dementia, even in well known environments. In order to relieve some of this burden, companies around the world are developing assistive technologies. However, getting accustomed to such technologies could still be challenging since people with dementia often perceive new technologies as difficult to use. Among the new technologies though, Augmented Reality (AR) technology has been reported as both intuitive and easily adopted. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how this particular technology could be implemented, i.e. how the AR interface could be designed, in a mobile navigation application so people with mild dementia can use the application without assistance. This qualitative study is based on a pilot study followed by two usability tests, where people diagnosed with mild dementia tested a mobile navigation application and a navigation mockup, both implementing augmented reality technology but with two different interface designs: i) one included an animated figure and ii) one used arrows with a filter that could be turned on or off. Five persons participated in each usability test. The collected interview and observational data was analyzed using a phenomenological hermeneutical method. Overall the participants found the suggested AR technology to be usable while navigating. The results also showed that the respondents were rather neutral to which of the two AR interfaces were used. The majority expressed that it was easier to navigate with the navigation mockup when the filter was off. Finally, the study presents five design implication suggestions to be considered while developing this type of assistive technologies for people with mild dementia. The AR interface should: use an unfiltered camera view, be intuitive, be adapted to outdoor conditions, not prevent the user from focusing on the surrounding environment, be precise and trustworthy.