Jamie Bursey
Google Pixel Watch
With Digital Self-Remembering
After decades of interacting online, how can we use the data left behind to support people living with dementia?
I am proposing a wearable digital platform to assist individuals living with cognitive impairment, specifically dementia. After years of telling a technology platform who you are, this platform could help people to be aware of themselves, be understood and live more fulfilling lives. Having data prior to the cognitive impairment, such as information about eating and sleeping habits, would help support people to maintain their daily routine and maintain greater independence. Our digital footprint is a manifestation of our uniqueness. It is our actualization translated for another intelligence to understand.
Insight
Key insights for this project came from personal experience, combined with professional advice. For a few weeks last summer, I visited my Grandma and supported my family’s efforts to take care of her as she recently developed dementia. We developed a strategy with an occupational therapist who suggested that we use paper to write her reminder notes. I used to sit with my sketchbook and write her notes. For example writing, “Robbie is outside in the garden, he will be in before supper” helped her break negative cycles of thinking and feel more grounded.
Idea
Through my work, I am imagining a future where people like my Grandma, use technology to communicate, to function day-to-day and to live more grounded and fulfilled lives. I have designed three features to accomplish this. The first is using Ui to display the time in relation to a routine event like weather, meals or sleep habits. The next is to display transcription of conversation in real time. The third is to have idle animations that demonstrate the newness of the moment. Automatically generating, the animation stimulates a connection with that moment in time.
Impact
Potentially, this platform could enable people to have access to their own true selves for longer, thus extending their quality of life. I believe that augmenting the brain function via personal computing will lead to a more fulfilling life for people living with dementia. With this consideration, the new watch face archetype will be more human than ever before.
