Britt Östlund
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Sweden
3D Memories promoting inhibited potential in design processes
VINNOVA
32,644
01/11/2015
1
Needs that are specific to older people are often generalized to age, and there is a lack of methods for older people to be involved in the product development process. This project challenges the boundaries of what people with memory difficulties can accomplish if they get the opportunity to physically portray memories with 3D printing technologies, and the extent to which they can act as innovators in the product development process. The aim of the pre-study is to use a norm critical perspective to empower persons with memory difficulties their potential position in innovation processes through further develop the reminiscence method, combined with the production of artefacts with 3D printing technology, and plan for how this will be evaluated, and to build a cooperative consortium with enterprises with a view to, ultimately, scale this up to an EU cooperation. The reminiscence method is an established treatment method, used both among healthy elderly and people with dementia, to teach them to ponder and sum up their lives. It has been shown to help people with memory difficulties to communicate, orient themselves, remember and maintain their individual identity and life story. The advantage of 3D printing in this context is the ability to combine virtual and physical reality thus providing an extra dimension of mental stimuli. Starting from a norm-critical perspective, the project will contribute to uncover attitudes that restrict older people´s involvement in the design processes, enhance their innovative abilities, and develop future methods for a participatory design process using 3D printing.