Dre Lora Appel - Research scientist, OpenLab and Lead, PrescribingVR (VRx) - présentation 10 octobre dans le cadre de la grande conférence métropoline le FUTUR DE LA SANTÉ : innovez pour une population connectée.

1. Prescribing
Lora Appel, PhD
TechnoMTL
Oct 10, 2017
Can Virtual Reality offer an alternative therapy
for people living with Dementia/ Alzheimer’s?

3. What is Virtual Reality, Really?
Technologies that use
specialized software & hardware
to generate realistic sensations
(visual, auditory, tactile, proprioceptive and/or vestibular)
that replicate the real world.
Source: New Yorker

4. Source: Intel

5. Mobile VR
• Samsung Gear VR (Oculus)
• Google Cardboard
• Google Daydream
PC VR (GPU, CPU)
• Oculus Rift
• HTC Vive
• Microsoft Hololens
http://pulseonvr.ca/

6. 2025 AR/VR use-case assumptions
Source: Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research 2016

7. VR in Healthcare
• Teaching/Education (e.g. anatomy, emergency procedures)
• Training (e.g. surgical skills)
• Rehabilitation (e.g. mobility training, upper limb movement)
• Phobia treatment/ PTSD (e.g. systematic desensitization)
• Pain Management (e.g. in burn units)
• Wayfinding/Navigation
• Empathy building (patient, provider experiences)
• Symptom management (anxiety, depression, isolation)

8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIhtFp9AcMo&feature=youtu.be&t=44m4s

9. Dementia/ Alzheimer’s facts
• 47.5 million people currently have dementia, 7.7 million new cases
every year (World Health Organization).
• > 500,000 Canadians live with dementia, 1.1 million are affected;
annual cost to society $10.4 billion (Alzheimer’s Society Canada)
• results in loss of function &
independence, tendency to wander
• safety risks to patients, challenges to
personal/professional caregivers
resulting in institutionalization
• feelings of isolation and loneliness
trigger depression and cognitive
decline Source: World Alzheimer Report 2015

10. Objectives
• Usability
• Safety (adverse events)
• Optimal characteristics
• volume/ light,
• multimodality,
• length,
• content
• Impact symptoms
• depression,
• anxiety,
• aggression,
• wandering

11. Study Methods
• Prospective, non-randomized intervention pilot study
• 56 seniors, various degrees of D/CI (MoCA/MMSE)
• Three healthcare sites:
• Intervention: Participants seated in swivel chair
• Exposed to 5-15 minutes of 360° VR footage
• Natural settings displayed using Samsung GearVR
• Pre-intervention survey,
• Standardized observation session,
• post-intervention interview

12. Demographics
(N=56)
• Mean Age: 80
• 61% f; 39% m
• 80% need glasses
• 20% trouble hearing
• 22% limited/ no
head mobility
• 59% limited/ no
body mobility
• 40% wheel-chair
• 38% walker
• 6% cane
• 2% scooter

13. Preliminary Findings
• 85% HMD found easy to get used to
• Only 9% found HMD too heavy
• 25% image resolution (not fidelity)
reported a challenge
• 96% did not experience nausea
• 50% tried to interact by moving/
looking around
• ~40% were very vocal
(giggling/wowing/initiated
conversations)
• >50% reported the virtual world
seemed very real
• 40% indicated experience helped
relax & get relief from unwanted
feelings or thoughts
• 74% would recommend experience
to a friend; 80% would want to try it
again

14. Conclusions
• D/CI population can tolerate VR
HMD (hardware)
• Experiences (the 360° VR films)
were not disorienting
• VR has potential as therapy for
people with D/CI
• Multimodal experiences (e.g. seeing
and hearing waves) & experiences
showing people or animals were
preferred
Next Steps:
• Conduct RCT with updated VR
experiences, displayed on higher-
end GPU-VR devices, and collect
objective bio-physiological outcome
measures

15. PrescribingVR.com
lora.appel@uhn.ca