Maarten Houben

Maarten Houben is a researcher at the Eindhoven University of Technology at the Department of Industrial Design and serves on the core team of the TU/e Expertise Center for Dementia & Technology. His PhD research focused on investigating the beneficial effects of everyday sounds and soundscapes in technologies for dementia. He adopts a design research approach by closely involving end-users and key stakeholders such as people with dementia, their relatives, and care practitioners. Maarten holds a master’s degree in engineering sciences: architecture and gained research experience in interactive media architecture at the Research[x]Design group at KU Leuven. He is interested in designing ambient technologies and interactive spaces, that have a meaningful impact on vulnerable user groups. Maarten has published in international journals and peer-reviewed conferences such as ACM CHI, DIS, TEI and has received two Best Paper Awards. With a background in architecture, engineering sciences, and design, Maarten adopts a multi-disciplinary approach to designing and researching novel technologies in everyday routines and real-life environments.

Expertise areas:
User and Society; Creativity and aesthetics;
Keywords and specific areas:
Co-creation; Dementia; Participatory design in care; Qualitative data collection; Sound-based technologies; Warm Technology