Using VR, eye tracking,and EEG to transform the design of care homes for people with dementia

As elderly people’s needs are changing, there is an emergent demand for a “new generation of buildings” that helps them to live independently. Architects and designers need to embrace a human - centred design perspective in developing such care homes. Virtual reality is an ideal platform for human spatial navigation assessment since it allows participants with dementia to perceive as well as act upon an interactive environment that can be made very life-like. Theta oscillations using EEG (electroencephalogram) during the spatial navigation in the virtual environment can investigate the sensorimotor integration in addition to eye tracking technology providing more information about spatial cues and colour that direct indoor navigation. This paper presents the background and the methods that will be used to evaluate a novel portable VR application for navigation in care houses for people with dementia. This VR application aims to provide a rationale for therapeutic environmental design that meets the needs of elderly people based on navigation problems that will be identified by examining interviews from the staff of care homes and spatial analysis of the environment.