Designing Interactive Public Displays as a New Form of Social Intervention in Nursing Homes

Positive peer relationship in nursing homes is an important component of residents’ life quality. However, social interaction between residents is found to be limited, and their relationships are difficult to establish. In past decades, conventional social interventions have changed very little and had limitations. Although many studies have proved that interactive public displays (IPD) can socially connect people in one community, designing for nursing homes is challenging due to the lack of supported knowledge. This report outlines the ongoing research that investigates how to design appropriate IPD to enhance residents’ social interaction and wellbeing. Research-through-Design is adopted to generate knowledge through an iterative process of developing experimental systems in a real-life setting. The preliminary findings confirmed our hypothesis that IPD could positively influence residents’ social behaviour and feelings. The key is not to push the complexity of technology, but to comply with their current habits, preferences and reduce related barriers.