Mini-game design and development – ‘memories’ application

Abstract

With increasing life expectancy and low fertility rates, Singapore, similar to other countries in the Global North, faces a rapidly aging population [1]. As a consequence, the Government of Singapore invested $3 billion from 2015 to 2019 to care for elderly Singaporeans [11]. Research and government institutions have evidently been making sizable investments in technology and systems to aid comfortable aging.

A topic of note in this realm is the issue of memory in the elderly population. According to common medical consensus, memory decline occurs in more than 40% of individuals older than 60 years [3]. Dementia is an extreme instance of this. It refers to the severe loss of memory and intellectual ability which interferes with the daily functioning of an individual. This condition is distinct from the cognitive decline associated with regular aging. It was found that dementia impacted 10% of the elderly population (those aged 60 years and above) in Singapore in 2018 [4]. The number of people living with dementia is expected to rise beyond 100,000 by 2030 [5].

Despite its prevalence, dementia-related knowledge in the general population is quite low in Singapore [6]. This Final Year Project aims to leverage technology to aid memory retrieval and increase awareness of dementia in Singapore’s population above 50.

The application, ‘Memories’ is designed with the user-base in mind to assist its aim. The associated features consist of a photo album to help with memory support, a game and set of gamified tasks to retain user attention, and lastly, dementia-related information and support contacts. A user-friendly interface, a share feature, and language support are implemented to make the application more inclusive and to introduce a social element.