Going Outside While Staying Inside — Exercise Motivation with Immersive vs. Non–immersive Recreational Virtual Environment Augmentation for Older Adult Nursing Home Residents

Abstract

Virtual technology and immersive experiences are not very often associated with older adults. Recent studies suggest that exercise augmentation using flat screen-based virtual environments, which allow nursing home residents to experience virtual places different from the nursing home, can increase the intrinsic motivation of nursing home residents. In this paper, we increase the immersive properties of such augmentation through an Oculus Rift Head Mounted Display, to evaluate the effect on the older adults' sense of presence, if it has any relation to the level of intrinsic motivation to exercise, and an effect of the exercise user experience. A small sample size makes this a feasibility study. Results suggest HMD displays for immersive VR experiences applicable to nursing home users but not the particular exercise purpose.