Using a Virtual Reality System to Improve Quality of Life of the Elderly People with Depression

Abstract

Depression is a mental illness that affects physical performance for all ages. Particularly, the elderly people can experience symptoms of depression due to changes in their bodies, minds and social life. Absence of social status and reliance on family members are key reasons affecting the elderly's mental health. To treat symptoms of depression in the elderly, a procedure involves both a physical treatment(i.e; using medication and electricity to stimulate the brain) and a psycho-socially treatment (i.e; finding any social and environmental factor causing the illness and providing consultations). This research presents a development of a virtual reality system to treat depression in the elderly. Virtual images and environment of a garden were created to urge a belief and feeling that senior users were in a real environment. This virtual reality system with a 360-degree virtual garden view would encourage the elderly with depression symptoms to move their arms, thereby helping to stimulate their brain functions and speed up the process of depression treatment.