OB01: Keep user safely inside.

In many cases, we do not want the person with dementia to go out at all. It is likely that they go out for the wrong reasons, and the chance that they get lost is high. Once they are out, there is a risk of them getting hurt, hurting others or ending up in stressful situations. To prevent this, the first objective the system tries to complete is to prevent the user from leaving the building. If this is successful, the user will stay inside, where they are safe and sound. This objective can be further specified in 

OB01.1: Remove user's incentive for going out.

The user may want to go out because of a specific reason. If this is the case, the system can try to come up with an argument against that reason to try to convince the user to stay in. For example, if a user wants to go to work, the system might argue that as it is weekend the office is closed. For a supermarket, on the other hand, the system might say that either the groceries the user is looking for are already present, or someone else has already gone out to get the things they're looking for and will be back any minute. This will likely remove the incentive the user has for going out, presumably making them decide they may just as well stay in.

OB01.2: Bring user back to reality.

If a user is really confused about where they are, they might need to be reminded of their current situation. Once they realise who and where they are, they will probably realise by themselves that it is not a good idea to go outside and that they should instead stay in. A reminder could, for example, be provided in the form of a song associated with the care home, the name of a caretaker who is inherently bound to their memory of the place, or an image they often see around the care home. If this cue is correctly recognised by the user, they will likely become aware of their current state and as a result reconsider their plan to go out. If this plan was really only conceived because of their confused mental state, they will come to realise they should not go out.

OB01.3: Keep user occupied inside.

A different reason for a user to go out might be plain boredom. If they have nothing else to do, they might think of a reason to leave the care center, for example to go to run some errands. There is effectively nothing wrong with this, besides the fact that it is simply not convenient. In this case it should work if the system finds an alternative way for the user to amuse themselves. The system will try to achieve this by suggesting one of several alternative activities to the user. As these activities are indoor activities, users agreeing to do the suggested activity will no longer want to go outside.

OB01.4: Allow for quick intervention from the caretaker.

If the system tries to convince the user multiple times but the user does not budge, the caretaker should intervene. This caretaker can provide a more appropriate and personal response, or even deploy physical measures such as touch - something the system cannot do. However, if we want the caretaker to fulfill these fuctions, the caretaker needs to be aware that they are needed at the door. The system will allow for this by sending a notification to the caretaker, so that they can immediately go to the door and help the system keep the user safe.

OB02: Allow user to take supervised walks.

There might be cases where the user does not fall in the above categories, and simply wants to take a walk. This is, of course, not something we want to fully prevent the user from doing. For this reason, the system will alert the caretaker of this situation when it occurs. The caretaker will then proceed to accompany the user on their stroll to make sure they are prevented from getting lost. This way of superwised walking will prevent wandering while still allowing the user to get some fresh air every once in a while.