Aging Positively: Enhancing Positive Emotions in Older Adults through Natural and Social Experiences in Immersive Virtual Reality

Katarina Pavic (1) , Dorine Vergilino-Perez (1) , Gricourt Thierry , Laurence Chaby (2, 3, 4)

1 VAC (URP_7326) - Vision Action Cognition
2 PIROS - Perception, Interaction, Robotique sociales
3 ISIR - Institut des Systèmes Intelligents et de Robotique
4 UPCité - Université Paris Cité

Recently, immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) have become believable candidates for enhancing individuals’ well-being. However, there are several barriers to using VR to improve well-being, including design, and the availability of diverse video content. Thus, our study aimed to investigate the impact of immersion and virtual environment content (natural vs. social) on different age groups, as there is limited research on this aspect. 38 undergraduates and 25 older adults were recruited for the present study. They watched and rated 360° videos of natural and social contents under a highly immersive Head-mounted display (HMD) and a less immersive screen, while their skin conductance and heart rate were collected. Overall, preliminary findings suggest that while video content matters and leads to specific emotional responses in younger adults, older users reported high levels of positive emotions and arousal throughout most immersive experiences. As these are encouraging results VR for fostering positive emotions in elderly users, potential applications for a “successful aging” or vulnerable users will be discussed.

Keywords: Aging; Virtual Reality 360° video; Positive Emotions; Physiological responses

Domains: Cognitive science; Geriatry and gerontology; Psychology

Katarina Pavic, Dorine Vergilino-Perez, Gricourt Thierry, Laurence Chaby. Aging Positively: Enhancing Positive Emotions in Older Adults through Natural and Social Experiences in Immersive Virtual Reality. AAATE 2023, Sep 2023, Paris, France. pp.101-102. ⟨hal-04263946⟩