Older Adults’ Experiences and Perceptions of Immersive Virtual Reality: Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis

Abstract

Background Immersive virtual reality (IVR) can be defined as a fully computer-generated environment shown on a head-mounted display. Existing research suggests that key features of IVR can assist older adults in their everyday lives, providing opportunities for health promotion and tackling social isolation and loneliness. There has been a surge in qualitative studies exploring older adults’ experiences and perceptions of IVR. However, there has been no systematic synthesis of these studies to inform the design of new, more accessible IVR technologies. Objective This study aimed to systematically review and synthesize qualitative studies exploring older adults’ experiences and perceptions of IVR. Methods A systematic review and thematic synthesis were conducted following the ENTREQ (Enhancing Transparency in Reporting the Synthesis of Qualitative Research) guidelines. In total, 2 reviewers completed title and abstract screening, full-text screening, data extraction, and quality appraisal. Thematic synthesis is derived from the qualitative method, thematic analysis. It involves 3 key steps: initial coding and grouping of these codes, the formation of descriptive themes from these codes, and going beyond these data to form analytical themes. Confidence in the evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation-Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative Research approach. Results Overall, 13 studies were included in the final synthesis, including 224 participants across 9 countries and 5 continents. Confidence in the evidence ranged from high to moderate. Three descriptive themes were generated: practical aspects of IVR use, experiencing unique features of IVR, and perceptions of IVR. The findings from the descriptive themes suggested that there are several improvements that need to be made to existing IVR devices to facilitate older adults’ use of this technology. However, older adults’ responses to IVR were generally positive. Three analytical themes were generated: tolerating the bad to experience the good, buying in to IVR (don’t judge a book by its cover), and “it proves to me I can do it.” The analytical themes illustrated that older adults were willing to tolerate discomforts that accompany existing IVR technologies to experience features such as immersive social networking. There was a discrepancy between older adults’ perceptions of IVR before use—which were generally negative—and after use—which were generally positive—and IVR provided a platform for older adults to access certain activities and environments more easily than in the real world because of limitations caused by aging. Conclusions This review offers insights into older adults’ experiences and perceptions of IVR and suggests how a few improvements to its existing hardware and software as well as how it is first presented could offer new opportunities for older adults to take part in meaningful activities tailored to their needs and preferences. Trial Registration PROSPERO CRD42020200774; https://tinyurl.com/8f48w2vt International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.1177/16094069211009682

Exploring the content of the STAND-VR intervention: A qualitative interview study

“…Data collection. The interview schedule was informed by systematic review data exploring older adults' experiences and perceptions of IVR [16], the TDF [19], and the wider literature relevant to the study. Participants were asked to complete the "sitting time" section of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire [24] (see S1 Table ), to confirm they spend six or more hours each day sedentary, as well as a demographic questionnaire (Tables 3 and 4, and S2 Text).…”

“…He was a 25-year-old man. To date, DH had completed a systematic review and thematic synthesis exploring older adults' experiences and perceptions of IVR [16]. DH was a frequent user of ubiquitous digital technologies such as smart phones, personal computers, and activity watches.…”

“…Immersive virtual reality (IVR) can be defined as fully computer-generated environments that are displayed through a head-mounted display [15]. A synthesis of recent qualitative studies exploring older adults' experiences and perceptions of IVR indicated that older adults could be motivated to adopt a technology such as IVR due to the added agency it can potentially afford them in their day-to-day lives [16]. This materialises in the form of various physical activities that are available in IVR, opportunities to travel to places around the world where it may otherwise be impossible to do so, connect with others who may not be available to meet physically through the embodiment of virtual avatars [17], as well as a variety of other meaningful experiences [16].…”

“…To our knowledge, little research has attempted to integrate health behaviour change content into an immersive virtual environment. Based on evidence now suggesting that older adults would be motivated to use such a technology [16], it is worth exploring if IVR could offer a new platform for digital health behaviour change interventions.…”

Bridging the Generational Gap: Exploring How Virtual Reality Supports Remote Communication Between Grandparents and Grandchildren

“…Prior work has examined how VR can be utilized to support healthy aging, including the use of VR as a tool to aid physical and cognitive health [37,49,59], improving well-being and addressing depressive symptoms by using VR for enrichment [12,46,79,106]. On the one hand, older adults face certain barriers use VR, including its weight, tightness, the difficulty of operation, and causing feelings of being trapped, afraid, or anxious [42,94]. On the other hand, older adults show a positive attitude toward VR technology as it could bring them opportunities to take part in new experiences and enrich their lives [5,50,92].…”