We developed a new cueing system that capitalises on the spared musical processing abilities of people with dementia. We studied the cueing efficacy by testing different musical distortions (pitch, rhythm, and pitch-rhythm) while using different augmented reality-based interaction modalities in multiple cognitive stimulation tasks. A total of 18 volunteers participated in this study (8 with non-organic dementia) caused by substance abuse, such as alcoholism (control group) and 10 with organic dementia such as Alzheimer's disease (experimental group). We evaluated their performance using three augmented reality tasks: (1) a Knowledge Quiz activity, which is a general quiz knowledge game, (2) a Search Objects activity, which is a game that involves finding hidden images using a virtual magnifying glass and (3) an Association activity, which consists of a categorisation task. A within-subject experimental design has been used so that all participants could be exposed to distortions and activities. Results show that (1) participants, in general, were faster in completing the activities using rhythm and pitch distortions than non-distortion condition; (2) the experimental group reacted to the sound throughout the activities and, therefore, mitigating erroneous decision making; (3) despite the experimental group reacted to the distortions, the control group had better performance in the search and association activities and (4) music distortions compensated dementia related deficits, such as age, schooling and cognitive state. The results suggest that this novel cueing approach can improve people's performance with organic dementia and, more specifically, that such people can effectively process and exploit musical distortions.

(1) Background: Different intervention strategies, such as reminiscence and music-based therapies, effectively mitigate the cognitive decline of individuals with dementia (IwD). An important challenge when implementing these approaches lies in the need for content customization. We designed Musiquence platform, a framework that allows the customization of music and reminiscence content in cognitive stimulation activities. (2) Methods: Here, we present a participatory design methodology for designing a seven-week customized cognitive stimulation program (CCSP) for IwD using Musiquence. We ran focus groups with 19 formal caregivers, who provided information regarding themes and music to be used in activities for IwD, and gathered preferences from 20 IwD. (3) Results: The CCSP consists of seven cycles of tasks combining the activities available in Musiquence, the seven preferential themes of IwD, and the seven songs most frequently referenced by formal caregivers. (4) Conclusions: Finally, we provide a set of guidelines to implement a participatory design approach for content development together with IwD.