Project Nightingale

This project is now complete but we will update this page with news and pointers to future work
by the main researchers, David West (Corvil Ireland), Trent Apted (Usyd), Aaron Quigley (UCD Ireland), Judy Kay (Usyd) and Bjorn Landfeldt (Usyd).

This was a joint 18 month initiative (from Oct 2003 - March 2005) between the Smart Internet CRC, National ICT Australia and University of Sydney to explore the needs of Australia's aging population and the role of Pervasive Computing technologies in memory sharing and reminiscing. This exploratory project produced a number of technologies that are now in use in follow-on projects along with numerous publications in International Journals, Conferences and Workshops.  

Reminiscence is the act of recalling, sharing, and reviewing memories. All of us engage in reminiscence activities from time to time and we typically use various objects to help us remember. Photographs, family journals, scrapbooks, newspapers, pictures of past family holidays, personal belongings such as furniture, clothing, jewelry, and toys are all examples of objects used on a regular basis to stir up memories.

Reminiscence activities as a therapeutic approach to enhance the social and intellectual fitness of elders are well understood [Butler 1974; MacRae 1982; Bramlett and Gueldner 1993; Mercken 2003]. Much of the early work was undertaken in the field of psychotheraphy and geriatrics [Butler 1974] which has been fed into the mutidiciplinary field of gerontology [Knight et al 1992] and more recently the field of gerontechnology. Some of validated therapeutic benefits of reminiscence include: improved self-image [McGowan 1994], intergenerational understanding [Mercken 2003, Chamberlain 1994] and increased social interaction [Tatchell 2003]. Whereas other percieved benifits are reported through annecdotal evidence, these include: finding meaning and purpose in ones life, improved well being, coping with grief and loss along with an improved sense of security and competence [Sheridan 1991, Mercken 2003].

In Dec 2005 we had our paper Tabletop Sharing of Digital Photographs for the Elderly accepted to CHI 2006 in Montreal. In April 2007 our journal paper "MEMENTO: a digital-physical scrapbook for memory sharing" published in "Personal and Ubiquitous Computing: Special Issue on Memory and Sharing of Experiences." was published.

Here you can see two of our reminiscence applications drawn from our early user centered design research.  Thanks to the members of the Port Hacking Probus club for helping us out with our early and ongoing studies.  SharePic, for collaborative photo sharing activities and Memento, for single person or collaborative physical-digital scrapbooking.  This photo appeared in a Canberra Times article on our project in August 2004. You can also read the transcript of an ABC Radio interview during The Buzz radio show in September 2004 or some related media releases or magazine article or journal article, featuring this project.

"Older people, like the rest of us, do better if they're mentally stimulated and engaged. One of the best ways of doing this is by reminiscing with each other, often using photos and scrapbooks. Now some Sydney-based researchers are developing technologies that make this easier." [ABC Buzz]

A Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) article that included an overview of our project entitled "Research centres yield results" noted the novelty of our work:

"The word "gerontechnology" has been coined to describe the use of technology to improve the lives of the aged. I've yet to see a better example than what Quigley and his Project Nightingale team are developing.". [SMH: Next]

Our motivation was to develop new technologies which can be used as naturally as current day objects. Prior to this project starting we performed user centered design research activities which helped us understand the people we are designing for and which produced new design ideas

Technologies should adapt seamlessly to the users' environments so we will not end up with a scenario like the above

Last Updated: Apr 2007