“Life Frame”: ICT a supporto delle memorie personali degli anziani

The paper describes the project “The Life frame” – included in the research project “ICT for Active Ageing” of IDEaCT lab. (Sapienza University of Rome) – which aims to investigate the added value of digitizing memories for elderly people. It reports the ethnographic research undertaken in order to develop a framework including both devices and services. Data were gathered on the use of mementos in the homes of 241 elderly people and on the technologies that they used, the purpose being to identify the different psychological functions that mementos perform in the homes of this specific target group and to understand the potential use of digital technologies. In the paper we discuss our findings and initial insights for the design of the Life Frame, a device integrated with services for enhancing elderly people’s personal memories.