Design of vibrotactile navigation displays for elderly with memory disorders

Social inclusion; the right and possibility for every person to be a member of a group, community, or society as a whole proves to be a significant factor for self-esteem and quality of life. Mobility is one of the major prerequisites for social inclusion and in this paper - which discusses the development of an early prototype as part of a larger project - we address the problem when mobility and hence social inclusion is limited due to a condition known as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The objective of this study is to enable social interaction by providing assistive navigation that facilitates independence through mobility for the elderly and addresses the following objectives: 1) Landmark to landmark navigation as an alternative to the more standard turn by turn navigation method and 2) Design of vibrotactile signal design for intuitive navigation support. The overall result of the study is that it is feasible to use vibrotactile displays with a sensitive range as support for navigation for the elderly and that landmark to landmark navigation shows viable potential as an alternative to tap on shoulder navigation.