TackTile

Inspiration

When one of our team members' grandfather developed Alzheimer's, it was important to his family to keep him engaged with the world around him. However, he became frustrated by the toys that they brought him to play with to keep his mind interested. These were games and puzzles designed for toddlers and young children that, while appropriate in complexity, were infantilizing and undignified to play with. For a family committed to helping an elderly person's mind stay healthy, what solution could there be that was age-appropriate and dignified?

What it does

TackTile is a modular game system designed to have small puzzles and interactive parts that are appropriate for elderly people with Alzheimer's and dementia. It has different themed packs that center around activities that many elderly people enjoy-- such as gardening, cooking, using tools, and playing music-- so as to be able to engage them with their favorite activities and not just toys for children. It relies upon research conducted by the NIH and other institutions, using tactics and therapies that have been tested in clinical settings to help stimulate the minds of people with cognitive impairments.

How we built it

We have modeled the TackTile system as well as several modular parts in Solidworks, which will allow us to be able to prototype the part when we have access to 3D printers and laser cutters. We've also done some programming in Arduino, creating an example module that allows users to change the amount of rain that falls on their garden! Also, we have mock-ups for six different themed packs about different activities.

Challenges we ran into

As three mechanical engineers, our resources have been somewhat finite, so we've been limited to modeling the part in Solidworks so far. However, we were also able to do some preliminary programming, setting a strong foundation for continuing this product's development.

What's next for TackTile

We'd like to actually prototype a version of this product! We have access to rapid prototyping technologies (although not at MedHacks) and will be able to build a functional prototype.