Usability and Applications of Virtual and Augmented Reality in Older Adults

Introduction

The growth of the elderly population has been increasingly noticeable due to the increase in life expectancy. The World Health Organization points out in its World Report on Aging and Health (WHO, 2015) that there was a significant increase in population aging, where one out of five people is aged 60 and over. It is necessary, then, to think about new forms of social functioning through actions and interventions that promote the health and autonomy of the elderly. Technological resources appear as an effective alternative in optimizing care for the elderly since they can overcome barriers such as cost, durability, and reach. These advantages have been enhanced due to the current global health conjecture, where contact between health professionals and patients has been restricted or drastically reduced (Ferreira-Brito et al., 2020).

Aging is a natural human course characterized by a decline in physical, sensory, and mental capacities (Tuena et al., 2020). In addition to the deficits arising from the normal aging process, some dysfunctions are commonly present among the elderly population, such as Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Parkinson's disease. Thus, it is a priority to take care of this population's health and promote actions that keep them healthy and active (WHO, 2015). In this sense, although the idea of the elderly interacting voluntarily and masterfully with technological devices is unthinkable for some (Wiederhold, 2020), many studies have been conducted, and new technologies are being developed to address problems associated with the physical and mental abilities of the elderly, aiming to improve their quality of life (Lee et al., 2019).

New technologies are consolidated as an effective alternative in integrating intervention proposals with the elderly, especially in mental health. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are technologies characterized by having components of visual, tactile, and kinesthetic perception, very similar to the real world (Malik et al., 2013; Optale et al., 2010). Prata et. al. (2018, p. 203) define VR as “a computer-generated self-contained digital world, consequently, virtual reality in a game is another powerful resource for the game designer to provides a richer and deeper player experience for the player because the entire “world” that the game is taken place is under his/her control. According to Grabowski (2020, p.01), VR technology is a form of illusion, a tool capable of replacing the real world with a virtual world fabricated using an electronic device such as a computer. The author explains that VR is commonly characterized by “Head-Mounted Display goggles equipped with one or two screens that display a computer-generated image. The image is generally stereoscopic, which means that it depicts slightly different images for each eye to simulate the impression of spatial vision”. Augmented Reality is defined by Azuma (1997) as a variation of a virtual environment where there is no total immersion. While using an AR resource, the user is able to see the real world in an integrated manner with the virtual environment and virtual objects (or images) are just superimposed or composited with the real world. To be considered an AR system, this technology must combine the real and virtual environments, it must be interactive in real time and provide a 3D registration of virtual and real objects.

Both VR and AR have been widely explored for promoting, through their power of immersion and stimulation, several positive experiences for different audiences, in other contexts, such as the improvement of physical, psychological, and social factors; treatment of symptoms associated with stress and trauma (Dibbets, 2019; Zimmer et al., 2019); cognitive assessment and rehabilitation (Tuena et al., 2020); contribution to the treatment of schizophrenia (Dyck et al., 2010; Macedo et al., 2015); and disaster training with students (Caroca et al., 2016).