RadioMe
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Real-time radio remixing for people with mild to moderate dementia who live alone, incorporating agitation reduction, and reminders.
IRAS ID
281404
Contact name
Nicolas Farina
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Plymouth
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 2 months, 1 days
Research summary
There are many people with dementia living in the community that do not have the support to allow them to continue to live independently into the future. Small things, such as reducing agitation, and reminding them to do vital activities may make the difference between living in their own home or moving into a care home. This project seeks to develop a new system which will adapt local radio broadcasts to either play calendar reminders, or play relaxing music based on detected physiological changes (e.g. increased heartrate) using a bio-bracelet. This concept is called the “RadioMe” system.
RadioMe provides an interface involving voice and music that will be familiar to people with dementia. RadioMe will be a unique, practical and impactful: broadcast-style radio as a mode of human-computer interaction to support people with dementia who live alone in their own homes. The novelty rests on the potential to combine existing broadcast media with in-home and wearable sensor-based technologies to support the delivery of personalised audio media.
Before we are able to implement such a system, we need to develop and refine RadioMe. This means we need to understand what people with dementia and carers want to see in the system, for example, what music they would like to play, the type and frequencies of the reminders, and the level of control they have over content. In addition, we need to optimise the algorithm to detect agitated behaviours, and the natural transition between live radio and the personalised audio. This research project is made up of three iterative stages.REC name
London - Queen Square Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/LO/0866
Date of REC Opinion
6 Jul 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion