Healthy Aging Research Seminar Series

Virtual Reality in Keeping Seniors Active (VIREAS)

with Věra Suchomelová, Assistant Professor from the University of South Bohemia 

This talk presents a multidisciplinary project: Virtual Reality in Keeping Seniors Active (VIREAS). The purpose of VIREAS is to provide a comprehensive solution for the use of virtual reality (VR) as means of keeping older adults active, both in residential and care settings. The project has produced two main outcomes: the Virtual Experience Kit software and the conceptual manual. The Virtual Experience Kit offers the user a naturally stimulating environment that respects not only limitations but also the psycho-spiritual needs of older adults, which can positively influence self-expression and self-esteem, provide motivation, stimulate curiosity, and generally enhance well-being. However, the users’ acceptance of VR may be negatively affected by several factors, such as non-personalized content, infantile content, lack of interactivity, or no possibility to share comments, ideas, and connotation with actual or previous life. The conceptual manual includes several areas that need to be taken into account in the implementation of VR in care homes, such as the design and quality of the virtual experience, spatial and technical requirements for the facility, the specifics of VR in the case of various health issues, the content and form of the virtual experience, communication between the worker and the user, and the ethical principles of using VR and necessary competencies of the activity worker. This talk will include several videos and provides examples of using virtual experience in memory training or reminiscence.

This event is both in-person and online.