Banda Sonora Vital (Life Soundtrack Technology):

Description and evaluation of a system to personalize music playlists for therapeutic purposes

Felipe L. Navarro / Perfecto Herrera / Emilia Gómez

Banda Sonora Vital: Motivation● Extensive literature and evidence where (pre-recorded) music used

for cognitive stimulation has a positive effect in AD patients

● Music personalization plays an important role in terms of engagement in therapy sessions and other music interventions

● There is a need to select and personalize music for these activities

● Music recommendation systems have evolved considerably in recent years

● From our technological background, how can we contribute?

(Garrido et al., 2017)

(Simmons-Stern et al,. 2010, Irish et al., 2006, El Haj et al., 2012,

Pickles & Jones, 2006…)

Banda Sonora Vital: MotivationChallenges

● Existing music streaming services are not oriented to clinical use● Strong bias towards English-speaking cultures and young people● Understand relationships between the user’s biographic data, music

preferences, memories and their collection of lifetime songs.

How can we contribute?

● We can create a system that generates music playlists● Focus on personalization● Easy access to their collection of songs● Culturally relevant (oriented to Spanish users)

(Garrido et al., 2017)

(Simmons-Stern et al,. 2010, Irish et al., 2006, El Haj et al., 2012,

Pickles & Jones, 2006…)

Banda Sonora Vital (Life Soundtrack)

What is a banda sonora vital (life soundtrack)?

A collection of songs that we like, are important for us, or those that are capable of bringing memories and moments of life back.

The project

A web-based music recommendation system that attempts to recover the most representative music of the user’s life.

bandasonoravital.upf.edu

Banda Sonora Vital: DescriptionUsers and profiles

User registration

Profile management

Registration

Name:

E-mail:

Password:

Password (confirmation):

Create a new profile Name*

Birth Year*

Birth Place*

Language*

Choose an option...

Choose an option...

AAAA

CREATE

CANCEL

Banda Sonora Vital: DescriptionMusical anamnesis form

+

Personal Data

Name:Lola

Birth Year:1945

Birth Place:Andalusia

Where have you lived? First Year Last Year

example: Barcelona

Relation with Music

What have been your workplaces?

When you worked, did you sing?

Office

Fields Shop

Factory Home

Other

Banda Sonora Vital: DescriptionUser’s data and inferences +

Banda Sonora Vital: DescriptionPlaylist generation

Banda Sonora Vital: DescriptionPlaylist listening and feedback

Is this music familiar to you?

Do you like this music?

Would you like to listen to this song again?

Does this music bring back memories?

What memories does it bring?

It reminds me of when I was young

SEND

Banda Sonora Vital: Evaluation69 users registered114 profiles created

Banda Sonora Vital: EvaluationGenres Top 20

Banda Sonora Vital: EvaluationArtists & Tracks Top 10

*All artists from Spain or Latin America except...

*

Banda Sonora Vital: EvaluationFeedback by playlist category

Banda Sonora Vital: Evaluation● We have collaborated with institutions, foundations and associations

that focus their activity addressing AD and dementia● Different approaches using Banda Sonora Vital:

○ Intergenerational projects○ Nursing home evaluation○ Free use of the website for their musical activities

Banda Sonora Vital: Conclusions● Contributed to the wellbeing and mood of people with

dementia:

○ Strengthen relationships and socialization among residents thanks to music

○ In collective activities they share their life experience and stories and build a common life soundtrack

○ Overcome stigma of some residents

Banda Sonora Vital: Conclusions● Aroused the curiosity of students for scientific

and social work promoting intergenerational relationships

● This web-based system allows to “save” their life soundtrack for its use in moments when is needed

● Helpful tool to get to know the patient’s life story

● It can be used freely by anyone outside nursing homes or institutions

Banda Sonora Vital: Next steps

Internationalization

Improvements and developments

· Investigate ways of making the anamnesis form more playful or fun· Playlist generation: more relevant inferences· Improve usability so that families can also access easily

· Adapt, translate and build new country-specific databases to expand the project: - Austria - UK ?

Thanks!

felipe.navarro@upf.edu

bandasonoravital.upf.edu