Ideas & Innovation Event on the Indoor & Outdoor theme, 28th May 2026, London

The BRIDGES Network+ challenges the traditional focus on basic physical needs that result in technologies primarily used for safety, surveillance and monitoring. Instead, we aim to empower people with dementia to be in charge of what they want to do by co-designing technologies that support holistic health, social connection, and continued participation in communities.

This event is dedicated entirely to our first core theme: Indoor and outdoor spaces. Indoor and outdoor environments can be confusing to navigate and often present challenges such as poor natural light, uneven surfaces, changing light conditions, and lack of seating.

We envision indoor and outdoor environments that not only support safety, but actively enable people living with dementia to navigate, connect, and participate in everyday life with confidence and dignity. By combining advances in design, environmental science, and intelligent technologies, we aim to move towards more responsive, personalised, and empowering spaces.

For this event, we are moving beyond the traditional medical model of basic passive monitoring, focusing instead on active empowerment. We are seeking project ideas that bridge environmental science, digital innovation, and community integration. Project directions can include layout design and the built environment, space safety and positive risk-taking, navigation technologies, and communication and social interaction.

In particular, we encourage innovative approaches to navigation that span indoor and outdoor environments. Advances in artificial intelligence—such as computer vision and large language models that can adapt to the communication styles and language needs of people living with dementia—offer new opportunities to provide context-aware, personalised support, enabling the right level of assistance at the right time. Such approaches could help people with dementia navigate complex environments more confidently, supporting independence, dignity, and continued engagement with their communities.

By bringing together academics, health and social care professionals, technology sectors, policymakers, community organisations, and people with lived experience of dementia, we aim to co-design innovative ideas to prepare for the upcoming Summer Feasibility Funds call for small projects.

Event Details & Support

• Date: 28 May 2026
• Location: Room 418 – Committee Room 2 at the UCL Institute of Education (IOE), London, 20 Bedford Way, WC1H 0AL
• Format: In-person collaborative workshop
• Funding for Attendance: In line with our commitment to NIHR Public Involvement standards, people with lived experience of dementia and their carers will have travel expenses reimbursed and receive compensation for their participation at NIHR INVOLVE rates. Additional funds are available for caring costs and accessibility requirements.

Who this event is for:

• People with lived experience of dementia
• Researchers with knowledge of science, engineering, design or technology related to indoor and outdoor spaces
• Companies and service providers with relevant expertise

Places will be limited, so please register here early to avoid disappointment. To ensure the event incorporates a range of expertise and knowledge, the organisers reserve the right to contact registered delegates to request further information regarding their registration.

The agenda is available for download here.