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Review
. 2022 Oct 31:8:20552076221132099.
doi: 10.1177/20552076221132099. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.

Virtual and augmented reality applications to improve older adults' quality of life: A systematic mapping review and future directions

Reem Sulaiman Baragash  1 , Hanan Aldowah  1 , Samar Ghazal  1
Affiliations
Review

Virtual and augmented reality applications to improve older adults' quality of life: A systematic mapping review and future directions

Reem Sulaiman Baragash et al. Digit Health. .

Abstract

Objective: The use of virtual reality and augmented reality to improve older adults' quality of life has rapidly increased in recent years. This systematic mapping review aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of existing research that identifies and classifies current virtual reality and augmented reality applications that enhance the quality of life of older adults to increase the understanding of the impact of these technologies.

Methods: To reach this objective, a systematic mapping review was conducted of the studies published between 2009 and 2020 in major scientific databases, such as IEEE Xplore, Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed. A total of 57 studies were analyzed and classified into four main quality of life domains: physical, cognitive, psychological, and social well-being.

Results: The findings showed that virtual reality and augmented reality have found their places in many quality of life studies of older adults. Although virtual reality and augmented reality applications are notably growing in the physical and cognitive well-being domains in training and rehabilitation settings, they are still in the early stages of development in psychological and social well-being research as well as healthcare settings. Our findings also revealed that virtual reality games, particularly motion-based exergames, and 3D augmented reality systems are the most common virtual reality and augmented reality types among the reviewed studies. Moreover, balance and attention were the most prevalent physical and cognitive functions when using motion-based and immersive virtual reality exergames and augmented reality systems and games, respectively, while confidence and interaction were the most dominant psychological and social functions.

Conclusion: This mapping review provides a comprehensive overview of potential areas for further research in this field, thereby assisting researchers, technologists, and health practitioners in expanding this field of research.

Keywords: Augmented reality; healthcare; older adults; quality of life; rehabilitation; training; virtual reality.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The phases of systemic mapping review.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
PRISMA flow chart of the study selection process.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications framework for older adults’ quality of life (QoL).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Publication outlets and publication years of the selected articles.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
The quality of life (QoL) domains.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Types and subtypes of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications intended purpose settings.
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) types, older adults quality of life (QoL) domains, and intended purposes.
Figure 9.
Figure 9.
The combination of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications type and quality of life (QoL) domain functions for older adults.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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