Dementia Friendly
App for dementia patients
Dementia Friendly is an app for dementia patients and their families. Numbers for helplines and support pages are all in the same place so there is no need for searching. The struggles of everyday life are eased with the help of an hourly diary. When things get too much the app also provides an escape from reality in the form of a VR safari experience.
Photoshop
Unity
Blender
Google VR
Overview
Making the enviroment
One of my tasks was to make the environment for the VR experience. To make it as accurate as possible to a real-life safari I researched the plants that are present. As a result, I made 3 different types of trees and elephant grass. For the tree bark of the trees, an initial outline was created to get the basic shape of the tree and then a skin modifier would be applied to create a 3D object. As for the leaves, icospheres were used as they gave a nice visual whilst also meaning I didn’t have to create each individual leaf.
Animating the animals
The models were rigged and then imported into Unity by another team member. I then had to give each animal at least 2 actions to give variety to the scene. When animating, a video of the animal chosen was used as a reference to try and make the movements as life-like as possible. Walk cycles were incredibly difficult to make in the time frame resulting in multiple movements changing to incorporate a single step instead of the whole cycle.
Project Owner tasks
After a discussion as a team, it was determined that I should take the project owner role. As a result, I was in charge of client liaison, leading meetings and the git repository. My role was quite important as halfway through the project the pandemic hit. Fortnight in-person meetings were no longer possible and due to the nature of Cognivity's work, arranging virtual meetings was difficult. I had to maintain correspondence through emails and occasionally participated in meetings with the client on my own as the only times Cognivity was available did not work with the team's schedule.
Client Feedback
It was a pleasure to work with Team Warner from the onset they responded directly as agreed and were responsive, punctual and professional.
Each team member met with Cognivity and it was clearly explained which talents, strengths and skills each team member had, and which aspect they would be working on for the project.
The team asked poignant questions and it was clear research had been undertaken as discussed.
Regular meetings and feedback proved beneficial and kept the content as the initial concept. I was able to engage with a dementia group in Plymouth and explain some of the development ideas from Team Warner and feedback to the team, enabling them to take into account for further development.
I am very pleased with the layout and content of the phone app, very interesting to finally see it come to fruition.
I feel the team worked well together, despite the upheaval of the current situation and lack of expected working conditions and academic provision. They are to be commended for continuing and completing this project. Well Done Team Warner!
Work Showcase
Modeling
Animation
