Improving pedestrian navigation for older adults with cognitive impairments through landmarks

h1. Improving pedestrian navigation for older adults with mild cognitive impairments through landmarks

h2. Abstract

Nowadays, ageing is considered a global epidemic due to the rapid growth of the older population throughout the world. It is predicted that, in 2050, for the first time in recorded history, the

older population is set to surpass the young population.

Therefore, an increase of incidence of age-related physical and mental impairments can been noticed. Dementia, in particular, is a well known syndrome which older adults are prone to develop. This condition is connected to a progressive loss of cognitive ability, leading to many difficulties such as mobility issues and time and spatial disorientation. A wandering behaviour, consisting on an aimless and disoriented walk, may present itself as a most worrying symptom, sometimes leading to accidents, injuries or even death. Such issues lead to decreased navigation skills - the skills a person needs to find their way to a location - and increased dependency on the patient's caregiver.

This dissertation approaches these mobility problems and intends to investigate how two distinct navigation concepts (landmark-based and turn-by-turn) affect the mobility and sense of safety of older adults and persons with mild dementia. 

This goal was pursued by developing a prototype of a pedestrian-oriented navigation application, to be used in mobile devices by these users. This solution employs a landmark-based approach, introducing nearby landmarks in the generated instructions whenever deemed relevant. As an alternative, it offers the possibility of being guided through a turn-by-turn paradigm instead, currently the most common navigation method.

The prototype served as a tool to an empirical study. 12 participants of ages between 63 and 80 were selected and split into two groups to perform field experiments, where they were asked to use one of the two implemented navigation methods to reach an undisclosed destination. The collected data revealed that a landmark-based approach presents a significative increase in older adult's mobility, orientation and sense of security.

h2. Participants

Student: Diogo Castro

Supervisor: Nuno Honório Rodrigues Flores (PhD)

Second Supervisor: Ricardo Jorge Azevedo Moutinho (Researcher at FhP)

h2. Location

Fraunhofer Portugal

h2. Dissertation Documents

Dissertation (for jury evaluation): https://feupload.fe.up.pt/get/Q9WXvDa1aaquYsN

Article (PT): https://feupload.fe.up.pt/get/yb4tJIDYjotoHH5

Article (EN): https://feupload.fe.up.pt/get/SyB8EUVnwtIJShf

h2. Dissertation Planning

First presentation: https://feupload.fe.up.pt/get/bedFM9YPgIep3W2

Final presentation: https://feupload.fe.up.pt/get/dx6ouK3HU05JHEe

Technical Report: https://feupload.fe.up.pt/get/OUgYKMdzB67LDLc

h2. Contacts

E-mail: diogo.filipe.castro@gmail.com / diogo.castro@fraunhofer.pt