philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Senior living residents explore the world through virtual reality

... “My name is Clarence Robinson, but everyone calls me 'Robbie.' I like that better because — 'Clarence' — people like to tease me about that name,” the 87-year-old laughed. ...

... “He [Robinson] gets everything connected to the WiFi and he can navigate everything to find something that appeals to them. And he’s their age, so to have a peer instead of someone much younger coming in to do something, they feel like they’re all on the same page,” said Leno.

Leno said after Robinson gets people set up with the goggles, they can choose their own experience. “It’s amazing because someone is visiting a national park; someone’s at an Elvis concert; another is listening to Mozart and watching the conductor.” 

Leno said the virtual reality goggles make a huge difference for seniors who have trouble focusing on a task for more than a few minutes.

“When you turn on music and [they hear] their favorite conductor — we’ve got some residents who would be disengaged with any activities after five minutes — but with this, they’re completely engaged for 20, 30, 40 minutes and it’s amazing to see.” ...

See the full story here: https://www.rmpbs.org/blogs/rocky-mountain-pbs/senior-virtual-reality-goggles/