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Virtual reality gives back control
Aged-care residents living with dementia take to new interactive game like ducks to water .
People living with dementia are now able to explore a virtual world filled with dragonflies , butterflies and ducks , through a new screen-projected , interactive game .
Called the Virtual Forest , the Alzheimer ’ s Australia Vic game aims to bring joy to the lives of people living with dementia .
It was developed with the Opaque Media Group and uses the Unreal Engine 4 game and sensor technology . Leanne Wenig , acting chief executive of Alzheimer ’ s Australia Vic , said the experience gave people with dementia an element of control at a time in their lives when many choices left them feeling powerless .
“ With the Virtual Forest , we are able to project a beautiful landscape onto a big screen that , through interactivity , takes a person with dementia into a virtual environment where they can experience awe , giggles and amazement ,” Wenig said .
“ Simply by waving their arms in the air or clapping their hands , the user is enchanted by the imagery and engaged through the stimulating interactivity .”
Movements are detected in the game by Microsoft Kinect technology . Users can prompt changes in the scenery , such as butterflies fluttering across the screen , a row boat floating around a pond or a family of ducks swimming along the water , without relying on headsets or handcontrolled devices .
Residents and staff of major sponsor Lifeview Residential Care helped test and refine the product over the past two years . Chief executive Madeline Gall said residents using the intervention were calmer , yet more involved , and there was a light in their eyes .
“ To see this technology in action is extremely heart-warming ,” Gall said . “ Watching the faces of residents living with dementia light up as they realise they are in control only reinforces Lifeview ’ s decision to assist in bringing this technology to life .” ■
Rambling speech speaks volumes
The long-winded dialogues of some older people have been linked to dementia .
Meandering speech in older people may be the first indication of mild cognitive impairment ( MCI ), a condition marked by forgetfulness that predates dementia , researchers claim .
US scientists conducted an experiment in which 24 healthy older individuals and 22 people with MCI were asked to create a sentence using three specified words .
Lead researcher Dr Janet Cohen Sherman , of Massachusetts General Hospital , said : “ The [ MCI subjects ] are very long-winded . “ One significant difference is the mean length of utterance – how many words MCI subjects used versus healthy older [ subjects ] – it was a very significant difference .
“[ MCI subjects ] almost tended to get lost along the way and had more difficulty connecting the three words and also difficulty remembering the three words .”
One example of the test was having to construct a sentence out of the words ‘ stove ’, ‘ water ’ and ‘ pot ’.
A simple solution would be : ‘ I filled the pot with water and put it on the stove .’
“ The healthy older individuals could give us a very concise sentence with the three words and so could the healthy young , but individuals with mild cognitive impairment struggled ,” Sherman said .
Dr Sherman hopes within five years to develop the test into a method of detecting early changes that are predictive of Alzheimer ’ s disease .
Speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Boston , she said : “ One of the greatest challenges right now in terms of Alzheimer ’ s disease is to detect changes very early on when they are still very subtle and to distinguish them from changes we know occur with normal ageing .” ■
With AAP
4 agedcareinsite . com . au