‘Flying’ down hills or ‘playing’ with puppies, study finds older adults enjoy virtual reality

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POMPANO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Retired Col. Farrell Patrick taught computer science at West Point in the 1970s and then at two private universities during the 1990s, so he’s not surprised by technological advances made over the decades.

But when the 91-year-old recently had his first virtual reality experience, he was stunned. Sitting in a conference room at John Knox Village, a retirement community in suburban Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Patrick sat up straighter as his eyes and ears experienced what it would be like to be on a fighter jet of the Navy flying off the coast of Florida.

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“Oh my God, it’s beautiful,” he said before the VR program brought the jet in for a landing on an aircraft carrier.

John Knox Village was one of 17 senior living communities nationwide that participated in a recently released study by Stanford University, which found that a large majority of 245 participants ages 65 to 103 appreciated the reality virtual, improving both their emotions and their interactions with staff.

The study is part of a larger effort to adapt virtual reality so that it can benefit the health and emotional well-being of older adults and help reduce the impact of dementia on some. between them.

In testing, seniors chose from seven-minute virtual experiences such as skydiving, riding in a tank, watching stage shows, playing with puppies and kittens, or visiting places like Paris or Egypt. Participants wore headsets that gave them 360-degree views and sounds, making it seem like they had been immersed in the real experience.

“It brought back memories of my travels and… memories of my childhood experience on a farm,” Terry Colli, former director of public relations at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., said of his experience of 2022. Colli, 76, liked to swivel in a chair to get a panoramic view. “It was pretty amazing.”

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Anne Selby, a 79-year-old retired consultant and artist, found that virtual reality “stimulated virtually every area of ​​my brain, every sense.”

“I especially enjoyed the ones dealing with pets because I have a cat and I’ve had pets most of my life,” she said.

The peer-reviewed study from Stanford, in collaboration with the company Mynd Immersive, found that nearly 80% of older adults reported having a more positive attitude after their VR session and nearly 60% reported feeling less socially isolated. Enjoyment diminished somewhat among older respondents whose eyesight and hearing had deteriorated. Those who found virtual reality less enjoyable were also more likely to hate technology in general.

Additionally, nearly 75% of caregivers said residents’ moods improved after using VR. More than 80% of residents and nearly 95% of caregivers said that talking about their VR experience improved their relationships with each other.

“For the majority of our respondents, this was the first time they had used virtual reality. They appreciated it. They were likely to recommend it to others, and they couldn’t wait to do it again,” said Ryan Moore, a Stanford doctoral student who helped lead the research.

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“We are proving that virtual reality is a tool that truly contributes to the well-being of our seniors,” said Chris Brickler, CEO and co-founder of Mynd. The Texas-based company is one of a handful of companies specializing in virtual reality for seniors. “It’s very different from a two-dimensional TV or an iPad.”

Separate from the study, John Knox Village uses virtual reality in its unit that houses seniors with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. This helps stimulate memories that lead to conversations with caregivers.

“It’s like they come back to life when they tell their story. said Hana Salem, the facility’s Meaningful Living Coordinator. She said this with others who don’t talk much, who rejoice when offered a VR experience that puts them in nature.

« They’ll start laughing and say, ‘Ooh, I’m going to catch the butterflies,' » Salem said. Catching butterflies is also part of a game developed by Mynd that helps older adults improve their mobility and flexibility when standing and reaching for objects.

“It’s more fun for these seniors to come catch butterflies and work on shoulder rehab than it is to go pick up a weight,” Brickler said.

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Brickler said his company’s systems will soon be connected to Google Earth, so seniors can virtually tour the neighborhoods they’ve lived in, the schools they’ve attended and the places they’ve visited, sparking new conversations with caregivers.

Such virtual visits “can bring back a lot of joy, a lot of memories. And when the therapist or the other caregiver can work with that older person and talk about the things that we’re seeing, we definitely see that uplifting,” Brickler said.

The company worked on the biggest complaints seniors participating in the study had about virtual reality: the headsets were too heavy, the heat they generated made their foreheads sweat, and sometimes the experience created nausea. did he declare. The new headsets weigh about six ounces (189 grams) instead of a pound (454 grams), they have a built-in fan for cooling, and videos aren’t as jumpy.

Findings that seniors in their 80s and 90s enjoy virtual reality less than those in their 70s could lead to changes for them, such as requiring less neck rotation to see full scenery and enlarging visuals, said Moore.

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On a recent afternoon at John Knox, a handful of independently living seniors took turns using virtual reality again. Pete Audet experienced flying in a wing suit, soaring over spectacularly high mountains before landing in a field.

“Oooh, stop racing!” exclaims Audet, a 76-year-old IT retiree. He thinks other older people “will really appreciate this.” But they just need to learn how to use it. »

His wife, Karen, was “playing” with puppies and was so fascinated by her virtual walk around Paris that she didn’t hear anyone asking her questions.

“I was there. But I was there! said Karen Audet, an 82-year-old retired elementary school teacher.

Farrell, the retired Army computer expert, said he hopes to live to be 100 because he believes the next five years will see dramatic changes in the field of virtual reality. Always passionate about technology, he believes that the cost of systems will decrease significantly and become part of daily life, even for older people.

“It won’t be as basic as it is today. It will be very realistic and very responsive,” he said. “It will probably be connected to your brain.”

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