How Virtual Tourism Helps The Elderly

By Author: Proxgy
Total Articles: 38
Comment this article

While the pandemic has made life difficult for people around the world, the elderly are suffering the most because of it. Old age and underlying heath conditions make it riskier for them to step out and with self-isolation orders, senior living facilities have restricted visitors, making nursing homes and assisted living facilities even lonelier than before. Even the most hermetic of us need to get out once in a while.
 
This said, the advancement in technology has never once failed mankind and is progressing by leaps and bounds, offering solutions for everything. This is where virtual reality (VR) comes into play. Isolation is a much worse experience for the elderly than it is for others and virtual reality aims to end that problem once and for all.
 
For the past few years, virtual reality has been a booming industry with tons of untapped potential. While it started as a medium primarily meant for video games, its benefits have far exceeded its original purpose. Virtual reality has now become an outlet for seniors to socialize and engage in activities they perhaps haven’t due to the ...
... ageing process, including virtual travel.
 
While it’s usually the youth that is associated with cutting-edge technology, the elderly too are embracing VR. Virtual reality offers the possibility to travel without having to pack a suitcase and leaving the comfort of your home; it allows them to connect with loved ones even if they can’t be in the same physical space. This is especially helpful for those seniors who suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s; it helps reduce loneliness and also improves mental health.
 
Studies have observed that loneliness can be as damaging to a person’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes in a day and that’s where VR can help. With the ability to make its users feel more involved, absorbed, engaged and engrossed, VR has been suggested to have possibilities for triggering behavioural change, thanks to its immersive interaction capabilities.
 
Another amazing benefit of VR is the ability to experience a new home. Moving is a stressful procedure, especially as we age. And, in many cases seniors may be moving into a new home and have to downsize. This can be a major hassle as it is not easy to give up some of the belongings collected over the years. It’s almost like parting ways with your memories. In this regard, VR can help seniors make decisions about where they may want to live, more easily.
 
To help make VR more accessible for such purposes, several smartphone apps have emerged lately. Proxgy is one such app that offers virtual travel as a service that has now also gained popularity around the world. With Proxgy, the elderly can travel to the most remote parts of the world through their virtual avatars – or Proxgies – and navigate at their own pace.
 
This kind of immersive and personalized experience will help stimulate the brain, boost positivity and relaxation, ease physical pain and reduce risk of anxiety and depression linked to isolation and loneliness. Virtual travel also helps improve memory.
 
With the advances being made in virtual reality technology, more senior communities are looking into opportunities that simulated travel can bring their residents. All of these benefits help seniors to stay cognitively stimulated and connected to the world and may help to improve the quality of life for everyone.