My avatar's name is Goldie. I'm creating her to help my grandmother because she has Alzheimer's and has had a struggle with her memory.
The avatar is named after my grandmother and is a younger version of her. I chose to produce a younger vision of my grandmother because its easier for her to remember the things in the past rather than the present. I figured she'd remember a younger version of her. Since my grandmother is somewhat religious, I thought I'd play off the angel image using golden and bright white colours as well as a younger version of her. The avatar is dressed in a gold, leather textured shirt, white undershirt, long white skirt and the match shoes. I chose to do a more casual look because I wanted my grandmother to be able to identify with it easily rather than someone she'd look up to. I went through multiple looks, and had family members analyze physical appearance of the avatar in relation to my grandmother's appearance. It was decided that this was the most successful image.
The avatar's main uses would be to send alerts on things to remember to do, have memory bank of images of people in her life, events that happened, helpful quotes to get my grandmother through the day without feeling disconnected.
The avatar's home would built in virtual world like second life and would look similar to her home now to eliminate confusion. She would also be able to access this location through a hand-held device that would log her into the avatar's home online and through internet connection on her computer. The memory banks would be created using everyday objects such as books, movies, alerts, photo scrapbooks, etc.
Movies played on the tv would be to play memories of events, people, and experiences that happened throughout her life. She could also read these memories in books located on her shelves. The photo scrapbooks would have images and short description of family and friends. The alerts would be used to remember things to do throughout the day, week, or month. My grandmother would also be able to create alerts, movies, photo scrapbook entries and books of memories by creating them through a computer located in her living room. Once the movie, photo scrapbook entry, or book is created they would automatically be put with the rest of the stored documentation. The alerts created would automatically go off at the time designated and display the information in the alert across the screen.
Using this virtual world and avatar would help my grandmother be more functional throughout her day without difficulty. The hand-held device also would allow my grandmother to go out and enjoy life without missing vital information from her avatar. She would also be able to post new alerts, messages, events, and people through this device as well. The device includes headphones and a speakerphone so she can hear the alerts, a voice recorder to record the information and a camera to take pictures of things she wanted to remember.
