Assessment of a smart kitchen to help people with Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract

The ageing population is leading to a significant impact on current society and it is introducing new challenges to find innovative solutions to help older adults to improve their quality of life, stay healthier, and live independently. In this context, the present paper provides a usability assessment of a Smart Kitchen developed to support people with the early-stage dementia in cooking activities. The smart system is managed through an adaptable user interface, which provides information on the meal preparation and allows to configure and manage all household appliances in a simple and intuitive way. Although this preliminary evaluation only included a small number of participants, the results showed that the system could be useful to help and guide people to remain independent in their own home environment for daily kitchen activities.