Rawan AlRashid
- Country of Origin: Iraq
- Home University: University of Kurdistan-Hewler
- Host University & Country: University College Dublin - Ireland
- PhD Title: Remembering Together: AI-Facilitated Co-Creation of Immersive Memory Environments for Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Their Families
- Year of Completion: 2029
PhD Overview
Most people living with early-stage dementia are not alone. Behind them is usually a family member who visits, remembers alongside them and holds the story of their life. Yet the technologies designed for ageing, from smart-home sensors to virtual reality headsets, are built almost entirely for one user in one isolated session. The relationship that matters most is left out of the design.
My PhD at University College Dublin (UCD) addresses this gap. I published the Ambient XR Framework (Empathic Computing, 2026), which treats the older adult and their family member together as the unit of design. Building on it, I will be developing an AI-facilitated immersive environment in which an older adult with mild cognitive impairment and a family member co-create “”memory worlds”” through conversation. A childhood street or a vacation spot is described aloud, generated as a shared 3D space, and kept so they can return to it on the next visit.
Sustainability Goals
- Gender Equality
- Good Health and Well-being
- Reduced Inequalities
About Me
For almost a year, I have spent my Tuesday mornings volunteering in a dementia care home in Dublin. It changed how I understand my own research.
I watched a quiet resident come alive when his wife visited and he put on a headset and talked him through places they had visited together. I met another resident who can stay in a headset for an hour and keeps saying “”oh how fascinating””. Week after week, the residents did not remember me, but they remembered their lives when the right person, the right object or the right conversation reached them.
Those mornings made me more empathetic, and they made the purpose of my work concrete. I no longer want my PhD to be only a contribution to the literature. I want it to produce something meaningful: a way for a daughter, a son or a husband to sit with someone they love and remember together, even as memory fades. That is why my research starts from real care settings, puts families at the centre and stays open to whatever technology people are comfortable with, rather than forcing one device on everyone.
I also carry this work beyond Dublin. In Kurdistan, as in many cultures, care for older relatives happens largely within the family. Through my academic role at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr and my mentoring of young Kurdish women pursuing higher education, I want to bring both this research and this way of working back home.