TY - JOUR
T1 - Involving persons with dementia in the evaluation of outdoor environments
AU - Van Schaik, Paul
AU - Martyr, Anthony
AU - Blackman, Tim
AU - Robinson, John
PY - 2008/8/1
Y1 - 2008/8/1
N2 - Using virtual reality (VR), we examined the barriers to and facilitators of functioning outdoors in persons with dementia (PwD) and investigated the generalizability of findings in VR to the real world. An existing town center was modeled in VR. PwD took part in both real-world and VR walks. Based on the results, the model was redesigned and then tested again. Performance on the walks improved, and potentially beneficial adaptations to outdoor environments were identified, but limitations of VR as a representation of the real world were also identified. We conclude that VR models, together with a rigorous behavioral testing method, can be a useful tool for the evaluation of outdoor environments and for identifying improvements for PwD.
AB - Using virtual reality (VR), we examined the barriers to and facilitators of functioning outdoors in persons with dementia (PwD) and investigated the generalizability of findings in VR to the real world. An existing town center was modeled in VR. PwD took part in both real-world and VR walks. Based on the results, the model was redesigned and then tested again. Performance on the walks improved, and potentially beneficial adaptations to outdoor environments were identified, but limitations of VR as a representation of the real world were also identified. We conclude that VR models, together with a rigorous behavioral testing method, can be a useful tool for the evaluation of outdoor environments and for identifying improvements for PwD.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=50149111634&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1089/cpb.2007.0105
DO - 10.1089/cpb.2007.0105
M3 - Article
C2 - 18721089
AN - SCOPUS:50149111634
SN - 1094-9313
VL - 11
SP - 415
EP - 424
JO - Cyberpsychology and Behavior
JF - Cyberpsychology and Behavior
IS - 4
ER -