Developing a virtual reality-based methodology for people with dementia: a feasibility study

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Rehabilitation Technology

Background:

• Virtual reality (VR) offers immersive experiences with potential applications in healthcare.
• Assessing the feasibility of VR for persons with dementia (PWD) is crucial for developing new assistive technologies.
• Understanding PWD's interaction with virtual environments (VEs) can inform future design and implementation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of using virtual reality (VR) technology with persons with dementia (PWD).
• To assess PWD's experience, including presence, usability, and simulation fidelity, within a virtual environment (VE).
• To investigate the impact of VR interaction on the physical and psychological well-being of PWD.

Main Methods:

• A user-centered approach was employed with six PWD interacting in a virtual park environment.
• Data collection included assessments of presence, user inputs, display quality, simulation fidelity, and system usability.
• Objective (heart rate) and subjective measures evaluated physical/psychological well-being and simulator sickness symptoms.

Main Results:

• PWD reported a sense of presence and perceived realism in the VE.
• Participants demonstrated good control and minimal difficulty with joystick navigation.
• No significant increase in simulator sickness or detriments to physical/psychological well-being were observed.

Conclusions:

• Virtual reality (VR) technology is a feasible and safe medium for engaging persons with dementia (PWD).
• VR can be effectively used to assess functional behaviors within ecologically valid virtual environments (VEs).
• VR technology shows promise for therapeutic and assessment applications for PWD.