Mayo team's Virtual Reality project is really taking off

A team from Mayo has created a first-of-its-kind Virtual Reality (VR) project for nursing home residents.

Global VAM is working on headsets that contain a wide range of pre-loaded content designed to create immersive experiences that foster emotional connections and also provide therapeutic benefits that traditional rehabilitation methods often lack.

The pre-loaded content includes immersive, life-like sand therapy programmes and other relaxation and stimulation experiences, content centred on an individual person allowing them to virtually visit family homes, towns and graves, live Irish music performances, exclusive virtual access to Knock Shrine and more.

Brian Lavelle, a native of Belmullet who is also known for creating the award-winning My360Town project, said the VR Activities for Cognitive Rehabilitation project came about almost by "a complete accident".

“We were asked by Rita Gaughan at Sonas Nursing Home in Belmullet if we could bring some of our virtual tours to the residents for them to have a look around. My brother Martin suggested we do this on headsets instead of iPads and the residents went nuts for it,” said Brian.

“We did some market research and found that this did not exist anywhere else outside of Ireland.” 

Brian and his team were no experts on the care home sector however, and got Declan Howley, Chairman of the Foxford and District Alzheimer's Trust, on board as a brand ambassador to help guide the process.

“Declan guided us on what’s best to put on the headsets for residents with dementia and also different activities suitable for that age group,” said Brian.

“Declan is now taking up a Masters in the use of VR in the Care Home sector on the back of this and we’re supporting him in that.” 

There are many benefits to the type of content that is pre-loaded onto the devices.

“The sand therapy is an interesting example, where we are putting the residents' feet into the sand, completely immersed in a real beach,” explained Brian.

“That gets the feet moving. A lot of the homes in the care sector focus on the upper body and this is a great way to get them moving.” 

Global VAM is continuing to grow and expand the product and just last week signed an agreement with Australian company Neuromersiv, which creates immersive upper body rehabilitation solutions for the care home sector. Brian said they are also on the lookout for Irish musicians willing to be recorded for inclusion in the headset’s pre-loaded music offering.

He added that the response to the device has been phenomenal from the over 300 users in 50 nursing homes who have tried it out.

“100% of activity coordinators love it and so do the residents who try it. It is such a powerful tool.

“At the moment, we are working on a rental basis to nursing homes. It is low cost but we are also seeking further sponsorship and investment, there is really so much potential with this,” said Brian.