App increases self-reliance of people with dementia
16-02-2024
A new product for people with dementia was presented in Amstelveen on Friday 16 February 2024. The company illi Engineering B.V. celebrated its 10th anniversary with a symposium and the launch of their new product called Mr illi. What started as a project by three students in 2014 has grown into a serious company, helping people with dementia across the country.
The symposium featured several speakers as well as the company's founders: HvA alumni Ruurd Bell and Mike Oudshoorn. The celebration started with a symposium on how to promote the daily routine of people with dementia, attended by 100 invited guests. Among them was guest speaker Somaya Ben Allouch. She is professor in 'Human-System Interaction for Health and Wellbeing' at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and lecturer Digital Life at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS). Somaya talked about how digital systems can enhance the quality of life of people with dementia.
Host Ivor Swaab, responsible for Strategy & Research, took attendees through the new strategy for Mr illi. Then Hans Arnold, founder of JAIN - Joint Artificial Intelligence Network, told how his network ensures that science is translated into practice. Leo Versteeg, as ambassador for illi-tv, gave an insight into the lives of people living with dementia and how Mr illi helps with that.
Next, illi Engineering B.V. launched its new product. Mr illi increases the self-reliance of people with dementia and will be implemented in care homes this year. The application is also being tested with people with dementia who still live at home. By 2025, the application will also be available for this target group.
From the Municipality of Amstelveen, illi Engineering B.V. has received a subsidy which, in collaboration with Somaya Ben Allouch of the AUAS, will look at how Mr illi can be used with people living at home with dementia. Residents of the municipality of Amstelveen can apply to illi Engineering or the research group Digital Life (mailto: l.elloumi@hva.nl) for this.
Digital Life is partnering with illi Engineering B.V. for the research project Mr illi, which runs from March to December 2024.