Network funding

Imperial College

The Minder Plus project will co-design a dementia-friendly smartphone app that supports the Minder smart home system: the UK DRI’s remote monitoring system enabling people living with dementia to recieve personalised NHS care in private homes; promoting independent living and supporting carers.

The Minder Plus app will help people living with dementia as well as their carers access meaningful health and care insights. The app brings together data from the home devices and sensors installed into their home as part of the Minder system into a single, user-friendly platform, enabling simple monitoring of their activity wellbeing. A key focus is transforming complex sensor data into personalised, easy-to understand insights, supporting informed decision-making, agency, and independence. ​By combining user-centred design, digital health innovation, and accessible technology, Minder Plus will demonstrate how data-driven solutions can enhance quality of life and provide practical support for people affected by dementia.​

One spokesperson from the team said:
“We’re delighted to have been funded by ZedTech to create Minder Plus, and really looking forward to working with our stakeholders living with dementia, as well as their carers and clinicians to deliver an accessible, impactful app.” .

University of Surrey

How can we support safer, more proactive care for people living with dementia at home: without adding burden to their daily lives?

This project addresses a critical gap in community-based health monitoring by enabling continuous, non-intrusive sensing during everyday out-of-bed activities. Many existing approaches, including wearables, respiratory patches, and camera-based systems, can feel intrusive, uncomfortable, costly, or difficult to use over time.​ To overcome these challenges, the project will explore self-powered, ultra-sensitive smart textile sensors embedded into familiar household items such as chair and sofa covers, and floor mats. These sensors can detect subtle physiological and behavioural signals such as breathing patterns, movement, and restlessness without disrupting daily routines.

By combining advanced signal processing with AI analytics, the system will translate this data into meaningful insights. The aim is to support earlier detection of potential health concerns, reduce the risk of adverse events, and enable more proactive, person-centred care for people living with dementia in the community.​

One spokesperson from the team said:
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to test our breakthrough, burden-free smart textile sensors in real-world settings. By integrating sensing technology into everyday home environments, this project has the potential to help people living with dementia remain safely and independently at home for longer, while giving caregivers, families, and loved ones greater confidence and peace of mind.”

University of Stirling

The Guddle Project is a co-designed digital peer support  platform developed to enhance access to information, guidance, and community for people living with dementia.

Named by participants at a dementia-focused workshop after a Scottish term describing a confusing or challenging situation, the project aims to complement traditional peer support by providing an accessible, low-burden way for users to ask questions in their own words, share their experiences, and connect with trusted information and resources. ​

Guddle explores how digital technologies can deliver safe, inclusive, and meaningful peer support. The project is a practical tool and also offers valuable insights into the design principles and best practices needed to create effective digital support environments for people living with dementia and their carers. ​

One spokesperson for the project said:
"We are delighted to receive this award from ZeDTech and excited to start developing Guddle collaboratively with people living with dementia and the wider community. This idea was sparked and shaped by people affected by dementia, and the team feel incredibly privileged to have the opportunity to develop a resource that shows how thoughtfully designed technologies can meaningfully support everyday life."

University of Surrey

This project explores how everyday movement can be used to detect early signs of cognitive decline, offering a more sensitive alternative to traditional clinic-based cognitive assessments. Using Parkinson’s disease as a model condition, the research examines how patterns of gait, balance, posture, and daily activity relate to changes in cognition over time. ​

Within a specially designed Living Lab environment, participants complete everyday tasks while movement data is collected using unintrusive technologies, including motion-tracking cameras and sensor-enabled smart socks. ​By analysing these movement patterns, the project aims to identify objective digital biomarkers that could predict future cognitive decline. The long-term goal is to support earlier detection, more personalised care, and improved quality of life for people living with Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and other neurological conditions. ​This project is in collaboration with Z-PULSE Ltd, a University of Surrey spinout that specialises in advanced sensors and co-development of zero-burden wearable healthcare systems for sustainable and smarter patient monitoring. ​

One spokesperson for the project said:
"Our movement is the best measurable output of our brain. We are grateful for this great opportunity to utilise novel methods of tracking daily movement towards scalable and translatable markers for cognitive decline."​

Imperial College

This project addresses a key gap in dementia technology research by focusing on commercially available technologies that can be used in everyday life, rather than experimental or potentially inaccessible solutions. It explores how people living with dementia and their carers use, adapt, and experience existing technologies, alongside perspectives from technology developers, innovators, and industry stakeholders.​

Covering areas such as mobility, independent living, communication, health monitoring, carer support, and safety, the project will evaluate the real-world impact of these technologies, including adoption, affordability, accessibility, barriers to use, and unexpected benefits.​ By generating practical evidence on what works in everyday settings, the project aims to support informed decision-making, improve access to effective technology solutions, and help shape future research, innovation, and implementation. Findings will be available on ZeDTech's public website, searchable by care domain, cost, and evidence of real-world use, to maximise their impact across research, industry, healthcare, and the lives of people living with dementia. ​

One spokesperson for the project said:
"I have the privilege of caring for both of my parents, who are living with dementia. This project is deeply personal. It began by taking them to a ZeDTech workshop, where together we shared an idea that has since grown into a funded research project. It is a powerful example of the disability rights movement's principle, 'Nothing About Us, Without Us,' demonstrating what genuine co design and co-production can achieve when people with lived experience are at the heart of research, innovation and decision-making."

University of Nottingham

This project explores how conversational AI can support people living with dementia to capture and share their personal stories, helping to preserve identity, and person-centred care as support needs evolve. As individuals often interact with multiple professionals across health, social care, and community services, it can become increasingly challenging for communicating personal preferences, values, and life experiences. ​

Working closely with people living with dementia through a co-design process, the project investigates how AI-guided conversations can help develop meaningful, shareable engagement in a low-pressure and accessible way. By enabling individuals to tell their own stories and express how they wish to be supported, the project aims to strengthen interpersonal connections, improve continuity of care, and ensure the person remains at the centre of decision making throughout their care journey.​

One spokesperson from the team said:
"We have seen firsthand the value and importance that stories have in building and maintaining connections between people with dementia, their families, supporters and carers. This funding gives us a fantastic opportunity to explore how new technologies can help people with dementia to capture and share meaningful stories and to ensure that ‘who I am’ is central to relationships and ongoing care."​