Virtual reality provides an immersive environment that can transform a user's understanding of what life is like in someone else's shoes. No other experience existed to do this in a simple and accessible way around dementia. To harness the power of VR technology, we set out to model a variety of symptoms experienced by someone with dementia in everyday scenarios using Google Cardboard. Our idea was to build on the experience of people with different forms of dementia to take a simple everyday concept, done by millions across the world - making a cup of tea - and illustrate just how difficult and scary that can become for someone with dementia.

The information from the personal accounts of what it’s like to have dementia was transformed into CGI and 360-based VR environments, which were narrated by Dame Harriet Walter (star of Star Wars ‘The Force Awakens’). A unique visual identity was created for ‘A Walk Through Dementia’, which extended across all elements of the campaign from the Google Cardboard device to the microsite, t-shirts and the exhibition space in St Pancras Station.

The story was covered by TV and print news media leading to 1.2 million views of the teaser film and 40,000 views of the YouTube videos. There were over 5,000 downloads of the app and of those users who responded to a survey, 74% said it had led them to a deeper insight into the challenges facing people with dementia, including changing their behaviour and attitudes towards people with the condition. The app has transformed the charity's public engagement programme, proving incredibly popular with schools and young people at outreach events and is now being used by care homes and health professionals as a training tool.