Virtual Reality Enhances Seniors' Health and Well-Being

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) to assess the impact of geographical environments on walking and cycling: a systematic literature review

BACKGROUND

Geographical environments influence people's active mobility behaviors, contributing to their physical and mental health. The use of Virtual Reality (VR) in experimental research can unveil new insights into the relationship between exposure to geographic environments and active mobility behaviors. This systematic review aims to (1) identify environmental attributes investigated in relation with walking and cycling, using VR, (2) assess their impacts on active mobility behaviors and attitudes, and (3) identify research gaps, strengths and limitations in VR-based experimental research.

METHODS

Articles published between January 2010 and February 2022 within five databases (PubMed, Scopus, EBSCO, IEEE Xplore, and Cochrane Library) were explored using three keywords and their synonyms: Virtual Reality, Active mobility behavior, and Geographical environments. Studies focusing on indoor environments, driving simulation, disease-specific groups, non-relevant disciplines (e.g. military, emergency evacuation), VR methodology/software optimization, and those with static participants' involvement were excluded. The full protocol is available from PROSPERO (ID = CRD42022308366).

RESULTS

Out of 3255 articles, 18 peer-reviewed papers met the selection criteria, mostly focusing on walking (83%). Most studies used head-mounted displays (94%) and relied on convenience sampling (72% below 100 participants). Both static (33%) and dynamic (45%) environmental attributes have been investigated, with only 22% of them simultaneously in the same virtual environment. Greenness and crowd density were the most frequent attributes, rather consistently associated with emotional states and movement behaviors. Few studies have taken into account participant's previous VR experience (33%) and cybersickness (39%) while both are likely to affect an individual's perception and behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

Future research should explore a broader range of environmental attributes, including static and dynamic ones, as well as a more complex integration of these attributes within a single experiment to mimic the effect of realistic environments on people's active mobility behaviors and attitudes. Larger and more diverse population samples are deemed required to improve result generalizability. Despite methodological challenges, VR emerges as a promising tool to disentangle the effect of complex environments on active mobility behaviors.

Virtual reality gaming as a neurorehabilitation tool for brain injuries in adults: A systematic review

OBJECTIVE

Evidence of the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) in motor and cognitive rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury (TBI) continues to be mixed. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review in accordance with PRISMA guidelines to strategically evaluate the strength of evidence supporting the use of VR as a rehabilitation tool for motor function and cognition in patients with TBI.

METHOD

The van Tulder criteria were modified to determine the quality of the outcomes of studies deemed eligible for inclusion in the review.

OUTCOMES AND RESULTS

Twelve studies were considered eligible for inclusion in the systematic review. These studies utilized methods of varying quality such as case and quasi-experimental studies and found moderately positive support for the effectiveness of VR-enhanced rehabilitation for both motor skills and cognitive deficits.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

The varying quality of the included studies provides moderate support for use of VR-enhanced rehabilitation techniques per the van Tulder criteria. This highlights the continued gap in the literature for robust studies that enable providers, policy makers, and the public to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of VR-enhanced rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury. Continued pursuit of analyses in the context of newer immersive VR-enhanced rehabilitation is recommended.