Take a Photo for My Story: Social Connectedness for the Elderly

摘要

Along with the declining physical and mental condition, the living range and the social circle of elderly people shrink gradually, which indicates a relatively negative effect on the social connectedness of the elderly. The rapid development of the Internet and related technologies, however, bring new opportunities for researchers and designers to help improve elderly people's feeling of being connected and reduce their risks of becoming socially isolated. This paper presents the case study of MemoriesSharing Project, a participatory platform designed for senior residents in care homes to connect with other people and local communities through location-based story sharing. This design consists of an interactive installation and an online platform. Through 2 iterations, we introduce the design and implementation of the system, share the insights for design in care home contexts, and discuss the potentials of interaction design in semi-public spaces for improving elderly peoples' feeling of connectedness.