Finnegan Daniel J, Campbell Sarah
Cardiff University, UK.
Play Well for Life, Surrey, UK.
Gerontol Geriatr Med. 2023 Jul 13;9:23337214231186204. doi: 10.1177/23337214231186204. eCollection 2023 Jan-Dec.
Current trends in gerontology conceptualize Virtual Reality (VR) as a tool for rehabilitation, lauding its potential for cognitive rehabilitation or as an intervention to reduce cognitive function decline. However, we must take a critical stance and identify not just the potential positive impact, but also how things may go wrong without appropriate guidelines, and the need for careful design around the interaction affordances of the technology. We conducted co-discovery and co-design workshops involving expert stakeholders and older adults ( = 25) over a period of 6 months, involving practical activities including user personas and focus groups to understand the complexities of loneliness and identify possible solutions with VR. Based on our findings we focus our argument on two key factors in the conceptualization of loneliness: spaces, and activities which may take place within said spaces. We present our reconceptualization of VR as a tool for group activities instead of passive consumption of content and make suggestions to the community for reducing feelings of loneliness with VR.
老年学的当前趋势将虚拟现实（VR）概念化为一种康复工具，称赞其在认知康复方面的潜力，或将其视为一种减少认知功能衰退的干预措施。然而，我们必须持批判性立场，不仅要确定其潜在的积极影响，还要明确在缺乏适当指导方针的情况下可能出现的问题，以及围绕该技术的交互功能进行精心设计 的必要性。我们在6个月的时间里举办了共同发现和共同设计研讨会，邀请了专家利益相关者和25名老年人参与，开展了包括用户角色设定和焦点小组在内的实践活动，以了解孤独感的复杂性，并确定利用VR解决问题的可能方案。基于我们的研究结果，我们将论点聚焦于孤独感概念化中的两个关键因素：空间，以及在这些空间内可能进行的活动。我们提出将VR重新概念化为一种用于群体活动的工具，而非被动地消费内容，并向社区提出利用VR减少孤独感的建议。
