Page 50 - Changes and Challenges

Dementia
Changes and Challenges
and sold (or stolen) by the highest bidder. An old proverb says ‘The devil is in
the detail’, but perhaps he just lives in the ‘cloud’.

I find these ethical concerns to be a bigger problem than the functionality of
the technology. Also, again let us consider how Dementia is affecting us. We
are most likely slowly losing the fluidity of our speech, as well as in many cases
having semantic problems. As yet, issues like these have not been addressed
in the design of these ‘digital assistants. I feel that when we would most need
their assistance, we would not be capable of addressing them in a manner
they would understand, and hence may have a false sense of security with
them. They provide some novelty value but may be best suited for cricket
8
practice.
Most people I have seen promoting these technologies (and similar
electronic/digital devices), have very little understanding of how they function
and more importantly the limitations they have.

The problems in applying digital technologies to our needs, can be
summarised in these areas;

• Initial Design. There is very little understanding of Dementia as a
disability by people involving in the design process. Not only must
designers increase their understanding of Dementia, but people with
Dementia should be involved not only in the design, but in the testing
and evaluation of these products.
• Implementation. Here there are two concerns, again the awareness
and understanding of Dementia in selecting appropriate featured
technologies and secondly the hidden technologies that lie behind the
scenes, that may expose us and our personal data to abuse.
• Robust design. I was recently looking at a wearable GPS device. It was
water resistant, but when viewing the specs in a little detail, would
have to be removed for showering etc. I doubt it would have survived
a week of my ‘normal’ use. (I doubt it was hammer resistant!).

8 I have no interest in Cricket, but I do have a good collection of hammers that are
suitable for fine tuning these devices!
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