What Do Older Adults Think About Virtual Reality: Findings From a Preference Study
Sara Czaja, Walter Boot, Neil Charness, Shenghao Zang, George Mois, Pallabi Bhowmick, Wendy Rogers

TL;DR
Older adults found virtual reality enjoyable and valuable, with low discomfort and high usability, showing interest in future VR use.
Contribution
This study provides new insights into older adults' preferences and positive perceptions of VR for social and cognitive engagement.
Findings
Older adults rated VR experiences as valuable and highly enjoyable.
Participants reported low discomfort and high usability of VR applications.
Most participants expressed interest in future VR engagement.
Abstract
Social and cognitive engagement are critical elements of successful aging. Yet many older adults, especially those who live alone or have a chronic condition or disability, lack social connectivity, experience loneliness, and lack opportunities for cognitive engagement. Virtual Reality (VR) applications can play a key role in enhancing social and cognitive engagement and decreasing loneliness among older adults. VR provides an immersive and interactive experience, which enables users to feel “present” in an environment, and have the ability to interact solely or with others in a virtual space or activity (e.g., museum, gardening). The presentation will focus on data from a cross-site study that examined perceptions of value, enjoyments and usability (comfort, safety) of VR applications as well as preferences for VR apps among a sample of 48 of community dwelling older adults aged 65…
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Taxonomy
TopicsVirtual Reality Applications and Impacts · Technology Use by Older Adults · Social Robot Interaction and HRI
