I’ve spent the past 3 years creating multi-sensory experiences to bring delight to people living with mid to late-stage dementia at a memory care facility. Working with the brilliant team at the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living, it’s our belief that by providing this delight we will decrease the frequency of crises of negative behavior. Such as anxiety, wandering, and depression. We want to help their residents achieve their Best Ability to Function.

Our enrichment interactive project is a large, mobile, immersive “Experience Station” that engages residents with sight, sound, rumble, airflow, scent, and taste as they interact with a variety of themes. This is done through custom software that orchestrates the effects and hand-held props that Life Enrichment staff interact with. We have built two full-scale iterations of the unit to date, and our work continues.

We recently published a paper, Designing for People Living with Dementia: Multisensory Immersion.

This project has been awarded an honorable mention by the SCAN Foundation, was nominated as a finalist in Leading Age California and in Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas competition.

For more information, see the video below or the Memory Care Experience Station page.