Studio 4-Video Essay-Habits of memory

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Transcript:

Habits of Memory: A video essay by Chau Nguyen

Alzheimer’s or senile dementia was first discovered and recorded in 1907 by Dr. Alois Alzheimer. It is a progressive mental deterioration that can occur in middle or old age. The plaques and tangles form inside the brain blocking transmission of oxygen and nutrients to the neurons. As these debris accumulate over time, the brain cells are slowly dying thus destroying memory and other important mental functions. 

Treatments for Alzheimer’s often use medications. However, this doesn’t cure the illness and only delays its progression. For the long run, the effects will wear-off and the condition worsens beyond salvation. Another non-medical therapy is exercising such as physical and mental activities. Based on the split-brain theory of Dr. Roger Sperry published in 1981 and Sensory integration in education by Dr. Jean Ayres in the 1970s, a range of repetitive exercise frameworks is developed in hope to salvage the situation. By implementing interactivity and media forms, the program is able to help patients to create a learning patterns or muscle memory via sensory stimulations. The aim is to encourage the increase of Adrenaline and synaptic formation. 

My device was created for the very purpose of being a therapeutic tool to aid Alzheimer’s treatments. Each exercise inside helps tackle symptoms within corresponding damaged cerebral areas. The UI is quite simple. There are five buttons accordingly assigned to the five most common groups of Alzheimer’s symptoms, one SOS button and a screen. Their only function is to play videos. The UX is similar to an interactive toy box, light, cute and waterproof for easy cleaning. 

The initial design was intended to be like a rectangular compact mirror case to protect the screen. However, that soon changed due to shortage of electrical parts and materials. The current design is a box with six buttons and a protection layer of mica on top of the screen.  

Since the pandemic provides extremely limited choices regarding technical development, instead of getting specific parts to build the device from scratch, pre-manufacture items are acquired and assembled. Java is the chosen coding language because of its flexibility in trans-platforms.  

The Workbook for Aphasia by Cat R. Kenny inspires the production of demonstrative samples for the media contents. The experience is enriched using vivid graphics, clear and visible typography and subtle soundscapes for better stimulation. 

The outcomes of this project are to prove that implementation of interactivity in assisting medical treatment is remarkably effective, especially for mental health and all types of cognitive impairments and that there are prominent opportunities for creative workers to collaborate with experts and produce an archive of data ready to be prescribed to patients.  

Thank you for your attention!