Designing for mentally challenged people

Playful design for Activation: Co-designing serious games for people with moderate to severe dementia to reduce apathy

Tovertafel helps bring people with dementia out of apathy in the nursing home by providing a game as a stimulator that includes the (informal) care givers.

Researcher:

Hester Anderiesen Le Riche

CEO/founder of Tover

Design methodologies:

  • Co-design

Project type: PhD Thesis

Domain: Design for Healthcare

Level: Service Design

Outcome: Game

2017

Challenge

The challenge was to stimulate people with moderate to severe dementia in the nursing home to reduce apathy by using design for play experiences. Part of the challenge was to extracting relevant information from neuroscience and turn this into smart game design. An important part of the project was also to include the (informal) care givers into the design.

The Tovertafel is a playful product consisting of a collection of interactive games projected on the dining table.

Hester Anderiesen Le Riche

Result

The Tovertafel is a playful product consisting of a collection of interactive games projected on the dining table. These interactive light animations connect the nursing home  residents whilst playfully stimulating physical and cognitive activity and social interaction. The light animations invite the players to reach for them and respond to their hand and arm  movements. They allow the residents to ‘play with light’, for example, by throwing a ball to each other or sweeping away autumn leaves. The Tovertafel games are based on familiar projections to make the interactions recognizable and for the residents to reminisce about the past.

Currently, this game is a commercial product in the Netherlands.


Hester Anderiesen Le Riche

  • CEO/founder of Tover