Citation

Shelton BE, Uz C. Gerontology 2014; 61(2): 175-185.

Affiliation

Department of Educational Technology, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Karger Publishers)

DOI

10.1159/000365754

PMID

25502624

Abstract

Technologies that provide immersive experiences continue to become more ubiquitous across all age groups. This paper presents a review of the literature to provide a snapshot of the current state of research involving the use of immersive technologies and the elderly. A narrative literature review was conducted using the ScienceDirect, EBSCOhost, Springerlink and ERIC databases to summarize primary studies from which conclusions were drawn into a holistic interpretation. The majority of the studies examined the effect of immersive technologies on elder peoples' age-related declines, including sensory and motor changes (vision, hearing, motor skills), cognitive changes and social changes. Various immersive technologies have been described and tested to address these age-related changes, and have been categorized as 'games and simulations', 'robotics' and 'social technologies'. In most cases, promising results were found for immersive technologies to challenge age-related declines, especially through the increase of morale. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Language: en