In a late stadium of dementia people are often very confused and have little physical strength. They are not able to communicate with other people anymore and can’t enjoy practices such as puzzling anymore like they used to.
Music is proven to evoke memories and emotions to these people. Also, children’s toys like stuffed animals with textures are often used to entertain people with dementia, because in a nursing home there is little time to spend with people individually. The problem with the children’s toys is that they are not designed for people with dementia but for kids and are therefore made childish.
I made a more mature way to entertain people with dementia by combining textures with music. The hollow shell holds five interesting tactile surfaces you explore by touch. The textures create musical tones when touched. Stimulating your senses in a tactile and audible way. I made the instrument easy to control it only requires touch, at the same time the instrument is interesting since it reacts to the amount of touch it gets. Patients can use this instrument completely by themselves, this saves the caretakers time and gives the patients a fun experience.
Photos taken by Gijs de Kort Fotografie
