SoundscapePillow; a design for creating personalised auditory experiences for people with dementia

This paper explores how we can design personalised auditory experiences for people with dementia (PwD). We introduce a new product design called the SoundscapePillow. The SoundscapePillow is a long tubular shape changing pillow that enables personalised auditory experiences for PwD by listening to (nature) soundscapes. The built-in sound system produces these soundscapes to empower the PwD to relax, to reduce agitation, and to remember experiences from the past. In combination with an accompanying App the experience can be personalised for the PwD. The concept was put in practice by conducting two small scale explorative user tests with a prototype of the concept. This paper discusses the insights gained from the design process of the SoundscapePillow, the concept itself, and what future work is needed.