Interactive Gallery: Enhance Social Interaction for Elders by Story Sharing

Abstract

At present, the most effective way to deal with the demographic shift of elders is encouraging them to live in nursing homes for more effective health care. However, such move dramatically increases their risk of social isolation. A contextual inquiry in a local nursing home revealed that most elderly people have few connections with the outside environment because of their decreased mobility and have difficulty establishing relationships with fellow residents. In addition, they show great interests in sharing stories. Based on the above findings, we present Interactive Gallery, a system consisting of a cluster of specially designed camera kits and a gallery-like interactive installation utilized with the metaphor of gallery and postcards. This system aims to make the elders feel more connected to the outside environment, stimulate them to reminisce, and further facilitate their sharing of stories with fellow residents and citizens from local communities.