Skip to Content
Last modified by Hrishita Chakrabarti on 2023/04/10 17:38
From version 4.1
edited by Hrishita Chakrabarti
on 2023/02/27 23:36
Change comment: There is no comment for this version
To version 5.3
edited by Hrishita Chakrabarti
on 2023/04/09 17:50
Change comment: There is no comment for this version

Summary

Details

Page properties
Content
... ... @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
1 1  == Week 1: Introduction to Socio-Cognitive Engineering ==
2 2  
3 -==== Human-Centred design: ====
3 +==== Human-Centred design: ====
4 4  
5 5  We have to consider certain factors when designing and/or assessing a human-centred design such as the extent of usability of the system by the target users, and how effective and efficient the system is in achieving the target goal. When designing the system we should also keep in mind the context the system will be used in and should also ensure the users have a pleasant experience when using the system.
6 6  
... ... @@ -10,18 +10,6 @@
10 10  
11 11  Talked further in detail in next week's guest lecture.
12 12  
13 -==== Problem statement scenario - Pieter Van Forest: ====
14 -
15 -A residential care centre for the elderly who require assistance with daily activities due to physical and/or mental disability.
16 -
17 -The centre aims at:
18 -
19 -* enabling (as much as possible) residents to live their life like they used to
20 -* assure people that with/without dementia, they are still human
21 -* ensure that every resident's feelings and experiences are taken seriously
22 -
23 -Several activities such as drawing, exercise, gardening, etc are encouraged and social interactions are encouraged with visiting toddlers. Caretakers also try to practice their memories via reminiscence and memory games/activities. However, every resident requires personalised and individual attention which can get very demanding for the caretakers.
24 -
25 25  ==== Learning with Charlie: ====
26 26  
27 27  Targeted for children suffering from Type 1 diabetes and their parents and caregivers.
... ... @@ -30,8 +30,14 @@
30 30  
31 31  Through these games, the robot is used to inculcate a healthy lifestyle suitable for children suffering from diabetes so that they remember to take their measurements and medicines in time and are motivated to exercise regularly to regulate their blood sugar levels.
32 32  
33 -== Week 2: Dementia, Memory and Music as an intervention ==
21 +==== Lab Activity: ====
34 34  
23 +Formed teams and discussed a possible use case for developing a system of robot intervention for aiding a Person with Dementia (PwD).
24 +
25 +My team and I decided to focus on mealtime, especially during dinner when a PwD at the moderate stage of dementia suffers from confusion, anxiety and irritability due to Sundown Syndrome. We created three personas to develop our use-case scenario - Georgina (the PwD), Eleana (formal caretaker), and Sam (family member). We received positive feedback for our chosen problem scenario so we decided to conduct further research into existing literature about the use case for better understanding and consequent system design.
26 +
27 +== Week 2: Dementia, Memory and Music as an Intervention ==
28 +
35 35  ==== Cognitive change is natural: ====
36 36  
37 37  Change in cognitive abilities is natural with age however the change is not a decline for all kinds of cognitive abilities. Some abilities such as processing speed and memory do decline however word knowledge such as vocabulary tends to increase with age as we are exposed to more information with time.
... ... @@ -40,10 +40,32 @@
40 40  
41 41  ==== Cognitive reserve: ====
42 42  
43 -The brain changes structurally and functionally with time. However, there is an inherent quality to an individual's brain, known as Cognitive reserve that can explain how susceptible the individual would be to functional impairment in case of some disease/accident. The more the cognitive reserve of an individual, the longer a neurological disease/accident takes to cause serious functional impairment in the brain.
37 +The brain changes structurally and functionally with time. However, there is an inherent quality to an individual's brain, known as **Cognitive reserve** that can explain how susceptible the individual would be to functional impairment in case of some disease/accident. The more the cognitive reserve of an individual, the longer a neurological disease/accident takes to cause serious functional impairment in the brain.
44 44  
45 -The cognitive reserve can only be increased with a lifetime of healthy lifestyle choices such as a better education level, proper exercise and balanced nutrition, regular cognitive engagement, etc.
39 +The cognitive reserve can only be increased with a **lifetime of healthy lifestyle choices** such as a better education level, proper exercise and balanced nutrition, regular cognitive engagement, etc.
46 46  
47 47  ==== Dementia: ====
48 48  
49 -
43 +Common symptoms: Significant decline in 1 or more cognitive domains, the decline is at a stage that it begins to interfere with the individual's daily lifestyle. The individual might also show some behavioural disturbance.
44 +
45 +There are pharmacological treatments available and being researched into however **they are not meant for long term, **they only **delay** the symptoms by some time.
46 +
47 +Other measures of interventions - aim at **maintaining** cognition and **regulating **mood; the intervention measures are to prevent the individual from feeling "more disabled" than they actually are and maintain some level of self-sufficiency and independence in their life.
48 +
49 +Current interventions for maintaining cognition can be split into 3 parts: Stimulation (usually in groups), Training, and Rehabilitation.
50 +
51 +==== Music as an intervention? ====
52 +
53 +The normal human brain uses various pathways/networks of the brain to perceive different aspects of music. The brain is highly engaged when perceiving music hence the great potential for using it in rehabilitation. Music is already used by everyday individuals as a mood regulator in their everyday lives, it also provides a great opportunity for social interaction, and can even get the person moving to the rhythm (potential for movement rehabilitation).
54 +
55 +==== Lab Session: ====
56 +
57 +We learnt about two sections of research and documentation for our system design  - Operational Demands and Human Factors. My team and I first discussed the problem scenario in depth so that all of us were on the same page and then discussed the stakeholders in our use case and elaborated on our direct stakeholder personas deciding on their values relevant to the problem scenario.
58 +
59 +== Week 3: First Presentation ==
60 +
61 +My teammate and I presented our chosen problem scenario and our plans for the robot intervention. We elaborated on our personas and the issues all our direct stakeholders are facing during Georgina (the PwD)'s mealtime. Georgina is losing interest in her meals, Sam her son feels hesitant to talk to his mother for fear of triggering her anxiety/irritability and Eleana wishes to see her patient happy. Thus we introduce an intervention wherein the robot takes the role of a storyteller and engages all the present direct stakeholders in easy-going and nostalgic conversations around the story it narrates.
62 +
63 +At the end of the presentation, we received some feedback and questions which we then used to improve our design for our implementation.
64 +
65 +== Week 4: ==