philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

How virtual reality is giving the elderly remarkable end-of-life adventures

Royal Trinity Hospice in London is currently on a year-long study to examine the benefits of VR in palliative care, and existing research into the technology is proving that VR experiences are indeed giving people living with illnesses and terminal conditions a better quality of life. A recent study from the University of Tokyo, examining VR for palliative medicine at the National Cancer Center Hospital in Japan, concluded that “VR technology can be applied to palliative medicine to support communication between the patient and others, to provide psychological support to treat neurosis and help to stabilise the patient’s mental state, and to actually treat cancer.”

For Agnew and Viarama, it’s this quality-of-life support that’s the most helpful and rewarding aspect of what they do.

“We’ve had mountain climbers climbing mountains, we’ve had artists who have dementia who have had to give up their life’s work, and we let them draw, paint and sculpt in VR,” said Agnew. “You need to let people have fun in their life, and we provide that, and it’s wonderful.”

See the full story here: https://www.bigissue.com/latest/technology/how-virtual-reality-is-giving-the-elderly-remarkable-end-of-life-adventures/