Armchair travelling with a pair of goggles

Virtual reality goggles are taking armchair travelling to a whole new dimension at Summerset Richmond Ranges retirement village.

Residents can put on goggles and get a 360-degree view of their destination, which might be an African safari, a trip to the middle of Paris or swimming with dolphins.

In the African scene, a bull elephant is eyeing up the camera which is set up in the middle of their watering hole and residents can look behind to check out their virtual escape route.

While in Russia, a tour of the Grand Kremlin Palace means you can swivel your head and look above, below and do a full circle to take in its grandeur, just like being there.

Activities co-ordinator Sarah Poepjes says there are no rollercoaster rides or anything with too much movement or height in the videos as they have been designed for people in care and can be used by residents with dementia.
But there is the opportunity to virtually ski down a mountain in Japan or swim underwater with dolphins in the Caribbean.

Everyone can choose a tour level that suits their comfort zone.

“If you ‘re at the top of a cliff and you have vertigo, it could be quite scary! Or the same if you are underwater.” Her best advice to residents: “stay in your chair and don’t get up!”

Then at the end of the tour, it’s back to reality.

The company purchased some goggles a few years ago, which travelled from village to village around the country to give residents a sample of the technology.

At the completion of the goggles tour, Richmond Ranges was one of the lucky villages that got them back for keeps.

“We tried them at happy hour, which is a great time for residents to try them out. It took a while for people to start using them, because it was a foreign concept to them.

“Then, when those people who had used them had been converted, the word spread very quickly,” Sarah adds.

Another possibility with the goggles is street views of places residents used to live.
Sarah says they can provide an address and get a street view of homes or places around the world to provide a special experience for a resident.