Project OurPuppet: A System to Support People with Dementia and Their Caregiving Relatives at Home

This paper discusses the current state of project "OurPuppet" which is a system to support elderly people suffering from dementia. In contrast to other systems, OurPuppet not only focuses on the patient but also on caregiving relatives. If the caregiving relatives aren't present, many dependent persons show high insecurity. In turn, this limits the freedom of caregiving persons and hence leads to an emotional burden or even to an isolation of the caregiving relatives. Hence, in the project "OurPuppet" we are developing a sensor based interactive puppet, which is supposed to support the caregiving relatives, relieve the burden from them. The puppet acts as a companion for the dependent persons as well as a communication interface between the caregiving relatives and them. To this end, the puppet is equipped with suitable sensors to detect and monitor the emotional condition of the depending person and provide the caregiving relatives with the appropriate information. The puppet can also show emotional expressions in order to provide human like interaction capabilities. The puppet can intervene in situation where the dependent person needs assistance. This shall prevent isolation and decrease emotional burden of the caregiving relatives. Finally it will improve the situation for the dependent people as well.