Full marks to...

…Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK), for helping healthy people experience what it feels like to have dementia.

A Walk Through Dementia is a virtual-reality app and 360-degree Youtube video developed by ARUK, using the experiences of peo ple with different forms of dementia. It takes the user through everyday activities such as a visit to the supermarket, a walk home from the shops and making tea for the family.

“Popping to the shops is no easy task,” ARUK writes on its website. “It requires planning, decision-making, concentration, spatial navigation and calculation. All of these get harder when you have dementia.”

The organization hopes that the app will help viewers recognize signs of dementia and develop empathy for dementia sufferers. “We all feel the frustration when a supermarket changes its layout,” ARUK points out. “Spatial memory and navigation problems mean that people with dementia can experience that feeling every time they go shopping.”

Users can see how a dementia patient could mistake a puddle for a hole or have trouble climbing stairs because of a failure to judge distances. They can also see what it’s like to struggle to find the right change in the supermarket, or to accidentally pour boiling water on to a counter instead of into a teacup.

www.alzheimersresearchuk.org

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change [tseindz] Wechselgeld

counter [(kaunte] Theke; hier: Arbeitsplatte

dementia [di(mense] Demenz

layout [(leiaut] Anordnung

point sth. out [)point (aut] auf etw. verweisen, etw. bemerken

pop to sth. [(pqp tu] eben mal zu etw. gehen

pour sth. on to sth. [)po: (Qn tu] etw. auf etw. schütten

puddle [(pvd&l] Pfütze

research [ri(s§:ts] Forschung

spatial [(speis&l] räumlich