Is adding tangible augmentation contributing to virtual sensory engagement of people with dementia? Assessment on user engagement, agitation, and apathy

The conceptualisation and deployment of immersive sensory environments for therapeutic purposes have attracted a growing interest within the field of dementia care. In contrast to virtual immersions, tangible augmented virtual experiences offer a promising avenue to foster the self-engagement of people with dementia (PWD) through intuitive and multisensory interactions. However, empirical exploration of the added value conferred by tangible augmentation in such contexts remains limited. To address this, we investigated the impact of adding tangible augmentation in virtual sensory engagement, analyzing its influences on user engagement, agitation, and apathy. A field experiment was conducted with 15 residents diagnosed with dementia using mixed methods of video coding analysis and observational rating scales. Two experimental conditions (with and without tangible augmentation) and one control condition were adopted. The experimental findings highlight the significant role of tangible augmentation in enhancing engagement in terms of ‘attention’ aspects while enabling the recollection of memories through verbal communication. The findings also indicate a trend to promote positive emotions and reduce apathetic behaviours by adding a tangible layer to the virtual sensory experience. This study advances the understanding of tangible augmentation's role in influencing cognition and perception aspects of PWD's engagement and contributes to a more informed design of future immersive sensory technologies.

面向治疗用途的沉浸式感官环境的概念设计与部署，在痴呆照护领域日益受到关注。与纯虚拟沉浸环境不同，实体增强虚拟体验通过直观且多感官的交互方式，为促进痴呆患者（PWD）的自我投入提供了极具潜力的路径。然而，目前针对此类场景中实体增强所带来的附加价值的实证探索仍较为有限。为此，本研究探究了在虚拟感官参与场景中加入实体增强的效果，分析其对用户投入度、躁动症状与淡漠行为的影响。本研究针对15名确诊痴呆的住院患者开展了现场实验，采用视频编码分析与观察评定量表相结合的混合研究方法。实验设置了两个实验组（分别搭载与未搭载实体增强功能）以及一个对照组。实验结果表明，实体增强在提升用户“注意力”维度的投入度方面发挥了显著作用，同时可帮助患者通过言语交流唤起记忆。研究结果还显示，为虚拟感官体验加入实体交互层，有助于引导积极情绪并减少淡漠行为。本研究深化了对实体增强在影响痴呆患者投入度的认知与感知层面所发挥作用的理解，同时为未来沉浸式感官技术的精细化设计提供了科学依据。