JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Traditional methods for assessing memory are expensive and have high administrative costs. Memory assessment is important for establishing cognitive impairment in cases such as detecting dementia in older adults. Technology can assist in better quality outcome in such crucial screening, by supporting the wellbeing of individuals and offering them an engaging, cognitively challenging task, that is not stressful. However, unmet user needs can compromise the validity of the outcome. Therefore, screening technology, particularly for older adults, must address their specific design and usability requirements.

Objective:

The objective of this research was to design and evaluate the feasibility of an immersive Virtual Reality (VR) platform to assess spatial navigation memory in older adults and establish its compatibility by comparing the outcome to a standard screening platform on computer PC.

Methods:

VR-CogAssess, is a platform integrating an Oculus Rift Head Mounted Display (HMD) and immersive photo-realistic imagery. In a pilot study with healthy older adults (N = 42, age M(SD) = 73.22(9.26)) a landmark recall test was conducted and assessment on the VR-CogAssess was compared against a Standard PC (SPC) setup.

Results:

Results showed participants in VR were more engaged (p = .003), achieved higher landmarks recall scores (p = .004), made less navigational mistakes (p = .042) and reported a higher level of presence (p = .002).

Conclusions:

The study findings suggest immersive VR is feasible and compatible with SPC counterpart for spatial navigation memory assessment. The study provides a set of design guidelines for creating similar platforms in the future.