Navigation Support for Older Travellers with Memory Decline (NavMem)

The NavMem-project has successfully come to an end. The aim of the project was to develop a mobile companion for people with memory decline in order to support their navigation and orientation, while at the same time promoting a feeling of safety. Specifically, the project targeted to people with age-related memory decline or mild cognitive impairments, effecting the ability to navigate and to orient.

Persons who start experiencing disorientation episodes risk becoming afraid of venturing out alone and consequently sometimes participate less and less in social life. Within the NavMem-project partners joined forces to develop a prototype of a mobile companion that provides orientation and navigation support to remove the fear of getting lost, without keeping the person in leading strings. Another way the project has tried to create a sense of reassurance has been through its tracking and alarm functionalities among the family members. The idea is that the system could also be used by professional care organisations.

Funka joined the project in its final phase and contributed among other things in the dissemination efforts, interface accessibility requirements of the NavMem mobile interface as well as supported partners in their business modelling development. Funkas Anna Kivilehto together with Franziska Dolak from project partner Siemens facilitated a Business Modelling workshop held in Cambridge (UK) in November, where partners brainstormed on several potential pathways to market and finally co-created viable business models around the final product.

 

Funded by: AAL Joint Programme and different national authorities, Vinnova in Sweden.
Consortium: OFFIS Institute for Information Technology, Siemens AG, Navex, Swedish Stroke Association, University of Lund, Roessingh Research and Development and now Funka.
Period: October 2012 – September 2015 
Budget: 2 MEURO

Navigation Support for Older Travellers with Memory Decline, NavMem, opens in new window