Interaction design
MAKING
REHABILITATION FUN
Creating cutting-edge
therapeutic spaces at a new
Edinburgh hospital
W
hen Edinburgh’s new Royal Hospital for Children
and Young People (RHCYP) opens in spring
2018, patients might be forgiven for thinking it’s
more of a futuristic playground than a traditional centre
of medicine. Dr Oli Mival from the School of Computing
has been working with artist Alex Hamilton and AV
expert Derek Kemp to create interactive projections and
experiences that children and staff will be able to engage
with but that will also have therapeutic benefit.
control will be used to aid physiotherapy and the suites
will also boast responsive lighting.
Oli of the University’s Centre for Interaction Design says:
“This is evidence-based design as a result of talking to
clinicians and physiotherapists.”
The blended spaces technology that the team is
developing will be installed in treatment and rehabilitation
rooms across the RHCYP and Department for Clinical
Neuroscience (DCN) at the hospital’s new location on the
site of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary at Little France.
It is not the first time Oli has teamed up with Hamilton.
They previously worked together on a project at the
Glasgow Child Protection Unit where help is given to
children suffering from physical neglect, emotional and
sexual abuse. There, they blended interactive digital
augmentation with analogue elements to relax, distract
and engage children.
Within treatment rooms, a projection system will offer
tailored videos to distract patients while they undergo tests,
examinations or procedures. In three rehabilit